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Nationals fan's obituary blames bullpen for blowing 'yet another lead'

We knew the Washington Nationals’ bullpen was bad, but we figured the damage they did would be limited to games. Apparently, we were wrong. One Nationals fan grew so frustrated with the team’s relievers that he made sure to take shots at them in his obituary.

A 68-year-old Nationals fan named Patrick Killebrew died peacefully June 20 “after watching the Washington Nationals relief pitchers blow yet another lead.” Yeah, that’s how his obituary reads in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

There’s another shot taken at the team’s bullpen, so we’ll just post the entire obituary that ran in the Times-Dispatch.

KILLEBREW, Patrick, “Pat,” age 68, passed away peacefully at home, June 20, 2017, after watching the Washington Nationals relief pitchers blow yet another lead. Beloved father and husband, longtime attorney, former U.S. Navy Navigator and avid baseball fan and player. Join in a celebration of his life July 2, 6 to 8 p.m., at the SCA Clubhouse, 9601 Redbridge Rd., 23236. In lieu of flowers, send “donations” to the “Nationals Bullpen Fund.”

It checks out, too. The Nationals lost their June 19 game against the Miami Marlins on a walk-off single by Marcell Ozuna. The club had jumped out to a six-run lead before starting pitcher Tanner Roark allowed the Marlins to tie things up in the third.

The Nats took a one-run lead in the fifth, but gave that back after reliever Jacob Turner gave up a home run to Giancarlo Stanton in the seventh. With the game knotted in the ninth, Oliver Perez gave up the single to Ozuna to lose the game 8-7. You can’t fully blame the bullpen since Roark had a tough start, but they did blow the lead more than once.

The Nationals bullpen has been pretty awful in 2017. (AP Photo)
The Nationals bullpen has been pretty awful in 2017. (AP Photo)

We have to say, this is a new one for us. We’ve heard the joke about asking members of the team to be pallbearers so they can “let you down one more time,” but we’re not sure we’ve seen something this specific.

That last line in one heck of a kicker. Nationals ownership has been criticized for not signing off on deals that would have brought in relievers during the offseason. Seems like Killebrew thought the whole organization needed a wake-up call.

From the sound of it, Killebrew was a passionate baseball fan who didn’t mind if his family injected a little humor in his obituary. May he rest in peace. And may the “donations” to the “Nationals Bullpen Fund” be plentiful.

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Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at christophercwik@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik