Meet Marcus Hanel, American Icon

If you're not driven by the fire to pursue competitive excellence, then the bullpen catcher most certainly has the most enviable job in sports. He is, for all appearances, a part of the team. He travels with the team. He wears the uniform. Unlike kickers or coaches, he is generally the same size and age as everyone else on the team, and so he blends in and accepts the perks that come with being thought of by the public as a Major League Baseball player.

Only, he isn't a Major League Baseball player. He doesn't play at all. Critics of baseball might complain that it's mostly just a bunch of guys sitting around and eating snacks in the dugout. That is, in fact, almost exactly the life of the bullpen catcher and it's why he is such a great and important American institution.

Observe Marcus Hanel, bullpen catcher for the Milwaukee Brewers. Through three games of the Brewers' four-game set against the Phillies at Citizen's Bank Park in Philadelphia, Hanel has recorded no hits, no walks, no plate appearances. He has, however, eaten a stadium-record 18 cheesesteaks through those three games.

Citizens Bank Park visiting team individual cheesesteak record for a 4g series is in jeopardy, courtesy Marcus Hanel! pic.twitter.com/XrD2lHX6ly
— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) June 30, 2015

Bullpen catcher Marcus Hanel continues his march toward Citizen Bank Park history with cheesesteak #14 on Day 3! pic.twitter.com/UXIig6zN17
— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) July 1, 2015

On a night where the team collects 17 hits, Marcus Hanel bites into his 18th cheesesteak, breaking the 3-day record! pic.twitter.com/XXO8dzYjmQ
— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) July 2, 2015

Tonight, he will go for 19 and explore the reaches of the cheesesteak-eating frontier. This is why baseball is the most important sport in America and why the bullpen catcher is its truest representative.