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Erasmo Ramirez turns around to tell Aaron Whiting, 9 (left), and Jesse Lopez, 8, that they can't sign autographs during a game. At Isotopes Park, the Blake's Lotaburger Picnic Pavilion is near enough to the bullpen for a fan to ask for an autograph or a ball.

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"Oh, man."

Ask an Isotopes player what relievers talk about in the bullpen and he'll usually start with the same two words.

"Oh man, they talk about everything, from what's going on in the stands to what's going on in the game," said catcher John Baker, one of the few position players who catches a glimpse inside bullpen life.

The Isotopes, who lost 5-2 at Nashville on Monday night, open a four-game homestand tonight against Round Rock. You can be sure the bullpen chatter will be much the same as it is during every game at Isotopes Park.

"There are always funny stories about what happened to someone the day before," Baker said. "It's the same atmosphere you'd expect from a locker room."

The schedule of a relief pitcher leaves plenty of time to kill out in the left field Isotopes bullpen.

Relievers usually appear in less than half of the team's games, and an appearance can last as little as a single batter.

Onlookers will tell you there's not a lot of movement in the pen, merely an occasional stretch or warm-up pitch. Instead, the relievers pass the time during the game chatting.

The players say their bullpen chats include:

Sunflower seeds.

Old college stories.

Women.

Fantasy football.

Eventually the game at hand.

Sometimes there's so much time to pass, a nap sneaks into the bullpen.

"I've done it before; we've all done it," said Albuquerque pitcher Roy Corcoran, who is one of the team's leaders in relief appearances, pitching in 46 of the team's 121 games. "The game can get kind of slow-paced, and the eyelids get heavy. It happens. But most of the time you do try to keep awake to catch hitters' tendencies here and there."

Following the action in the stands is another way ÕTopes pitchers pass the time; but it's not always by choice. At Isotopes Park, the Blake's Lotaburger Picnic Pavilion is near enough to the bullpen for a fan to ask for an autograph or a ball. On the road, the distance between fan and bullpen is often in close proximity. But when you're the away team, interaction with the fans isn't usually a polite request for a ball.

"On the road, it's bad," Corcoran said. "You get taunted pretty bad, especially on Thirsty Thursday. It gets worn out. There are a lot of things that shouldn't be repeated going on."

No one in the pen seems to mind all the down time. In fact, the relief pitchers say it's a fun bonding experience. But they say the laid-back atmosphere gets put on hold the second the phone rings and bullpen catcher Dusty Lucy tosses on his gear. When his name is called, pitcher Nate Field stops taking the heat for being the pen's elder statesmen.

"Basically I get it (teased) just for being the old man in the group down there," he said.

Field then starts loosening up.

"It's the best adrenaline rush in baseball. You're sitting there, all of a sudden there's a guy on first and the phone rings," Field said. "They say, `Be ready in two hitters,' and your heart's racing. You just want to get ready and go get the job done."

Field is a 10-year veteran who's been pitching relief his entire career. He claims he earned the right to be delivering most of the punch lines in the ÕTopes' bullpen.

Still, he says he also found a routine that allows him to change gears and get into game mode within a few seconds.

He said it took him between six and seven years to finally reach a point where he could comfortably go from being inactive to throwing a scoreless eighth. So far this season, he's 6-6 with a 3.50 ERA in 46 innings through 44 games with the Isotopes.

What's his secret?

"Well, I can't really tell you that," he said. "I'd have to kill you."

Oh, man.

Must be a pen thing.