Even granny's 80th birthday is more likely to be held in a posh hotel with guests travelling half around the world to be there, with everyone pitching in to buy her a cruise around the Mediterranean.

BBC: Why has everything become a costly milestone event?

How much added value can be expected from a guy who specializes in pitching the last inning, when there's so little room for improvement?

FORBES: Magazine Article

Other possible causes include hitters muscling themselves up as never before during the off-season, the creation of smaller baseball parks and a general decline in the quality of pitching (every time there is an expansion of the leagues, the theory goes, the pitching talent pool is stretched thin, and batters have a field day, so to speak).

FORBES: Fact And Comment

He went there, ostensibly, to remove Red Sox pitching ace Pedro Martinez in favor of a relief pitcher.

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There are even Hello Kitty business ties and Hello Kitty baseball pitching machines in Tokyo and Kobe.

CNN: PRETTY IN PINK SLUMP