History Main / PutMeInCoach

* In the BaseballEpisode of ''LightNovel/KamiSamaNoMemoChou'', Alice, the coach, subbed herself in. She's a small {{hikkikomori}} who even has trouble opening a drink can herself. While completely failing to actually hit the ball, she managed to steal a base, which directly led to a one-point victory

* Subverted in ''TheSimpsons''; in the final seconds of a peewee football game, the police come by to arrest the star quarterback, because he happens to be resident delinquent bully Nelson. Bart volunteers to be [[PutMeInCoach put in]]...to the back of a police car as Nelson scores a game winning touchdown.
* Carlton Banks, ''TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir'', basketball game (airballs the final shot of the game after, in a desperate need to be lauded as Will is on the court, he ''wrestles the ball away'' from his team's star player).

* Fry, ''{{Futurama}}'', basketball game, "Time Keeps On Slipping". After one of the atomic supermen basketball players is killed, Fry volunteers to fill in for him. His team is 35 points ahead of the Harlem Globetrotters with two minutes left, but somehow ends up losing, 244-86. (The keyword being "somehow", since the overarching plot is that time keeps jerking ahead, leaving events in place but everyone with no memory of what happened.)

* Played straight in Disney's ''ChickenLittle'', with the added motivation of the titular chicken trying to put the embarrassing "sky is falling incident", where his claim that the sky is falling turned out to be an acorn, behind him. And then it turns out the incident was ''real''.

->''When you get so many injuries\\
Like your Lyon and your Tingay and others like these,\\
Like your Schwartz, your Hopgood, your David Neitz,\\
Is it any wonder the Dees are on their knees?\\
But then Yze, Woewoedin, and White hung in,\\
And now look out! Here comes Melbourne again!''
-->-- '''Greg Champion''', ''The Demons Have Been Down Too Long''

* In the BaseballEpisode of ''LightNovel/KamiSamaNoMemoChou'', Alice, the coach, subbed herself in. She's a small {{hikkikomori}} who even has trouble opening a drink can herself. While completely failing to actually hit the ball, she managed to steal a base, which directly led to a one-point victory.

Not to be confused with a request for the cheapest possible airline seats.

* In the BaseballEpisode of ''LightNovel/KamisamaNoMemochou'', Alice, the coach, subbed herself in. She's a small {{hikkikomori}} who even has trouble opening a drink can herself. While completely failing to actually hit the ball, she managed to steal a base, which directly led to a one-point victory.

->''"Oh, put me in, coach - I'm ready to play[[note]]*clap clapclapclap*[[/note]] today\\

* This is Kurt Warner's entire career. In 1999, the hapless St. Louis Rams had a shot at their first winning season in a decade after signing free agent quarterback Trent Green, only to see him go down to a season ending injury in the second preseason game. One tearful speech from Dick Vermeil later, Warner was the starting quarterback. He would win the MVP on his way to leading the Rams to their first Super Bowl victory.

* First overall draft pick Drew Bledsoe had been the starting quarterback for the New England Patriots for seven years and was arguably the best quarterback the franchise ever had. Then in the second game of the 2001 season, he was hit by Jets linebacker Mo Lewis, rupturing a bled vessel. Who steps in? Second-stringer and sixth round draft pick Tom Brady, who would then lead the Patriots to three Superbowl wins.

* A RealLife subversion occurred at the 2007 Grey Cup, The Winnipeg Blue Bombers' first-string quarterback was injured in the previous game, and had to be replaced by cold rookie Ryan Dinwiddie who, while promising (called the best football player Boise Idaho had ever produced), hadn't played an actual game all season. He performed well--but Winnipeg still lost. (Ironically, when he had his first start the next season, it would become the Bombers' first ''win'' that year.)

* Fry, ''{{Futurama}}'', basketball game, "Time Keeps On Slipping". After one of the atomic supermen basketball players is killed, Fry volunteers to fill in for him. His team is 35 points ahead of the Harlem Globetrotters with two minutes left, but somehow ends up losing, 244-86. (The keyword being "somehow", since, the overarching plot is that time keeps jerking ahead, leaving events in place but everyone with no memory of what happened.)

* ''OjamajoDoremi'' double dips: Perennially athletic Aiko asks the perennially brainy Hazuki to race her leg in a swim relay for her against the other room, since it turns out that swimming is something Aiko ''isn't'' good at (even ''after'' she's spent the last week or two practicing for the race). Hazuki takes the lead on the way out... and then the other room takes it back on the way in [[spoiler:[[DiabolusExMachina when Hazuki cramps]].]]

* The last two Stanley Cup Final series to go to a deciding 7th game (2004 and 2009) were both won 2-1 with a relative scrub scoring both his team's goals. Both players had only scored twice in a game once during the entire season.

* May 25-26, 2011: After 18 innings and nearly six hours of baseball, the Philadelphia Phillies and the Cincinnati Reds remain tied at 4. The Phillies have just pinch-hit for their last relief pitcher. Everyone was expecting the Phillies to send out an off-rotation starting pitcher, despite the fact that tiring them out is a risky thing to do, simply because they had no one left but starting pitchers on their bench. Instead, Manager Charlie Manual makes the unorthodox move of putting the utility infielder, Wilson Valdez on the mound, keeping the pinch hitter in the game as catcher and moving around other infielders to accommodate. Valdez proceeds to win the game for the Phillies, pitching one inning and giving up no hits as the Phillies proceeded to score the game-winning run in the bottom half of the 19th inning against an exhausted Reds pitcher, whom the Reds did not substitute for, due to a similar manpower shortage. Even though Valdez played the entire game, this still qualifies because it is very rare for a position player to pitch in the majors, let alone win the game.

* In 2012, the Columbus Blue Jackets were so short on goalies that they were forced to call on Shawn Hunwick. He not only wasn't on the team officially, ''he wasn't even a professional athlete.'' He had to skip classes at the University of Michigan, where he was still a senior, to come down and sub-in for the game. Which he ultimately won. Bonus? Columbus is the home of UM's extremely-bitter archrival Ohio State, and Humwick was forced to take the ice in his Michigan pads.

* In 2012, the Columbus Blue Jackets were so short on goalies that they were forced to call on Shawn Hunwick. He not only wasn't on the team officially, ''he wasn't even a professional athlete.'' He had to skip classes at the University of Michigan, where he was still a senior, to come down and sub-in for the game. Which he ultimately won. Bonus? Columbus is the home of UM's extremely-bitter archrival Ohio State, and Humwick was forced to take the ice in his Michigan pads. Double bonus? He beat the pride of Michigan, the Detroit Red Wings.

->''"Oh, put me in, coach - I'm ready to play[[hottip:*:clap clapclapclap*]] today\\

* It's been argued that not following this trope is what could have changed the outcome of Game 6 of the 1986 World Series. In previous games in clutch situations, the injured Bill Buckner had been pulled from first base and replaced with Dave Stapleton, but they decided to let Buckner stay in so that he could be on the field when the Red Sox got their World Series win. Which never came. [[hottip:*:at least, not for another 18 years.]]

* Subverted on ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark''. When Stanley's preschool hockey team had their opponent cancel, the Colorado Avalanche insist that the kids play for them against the Detroit Red Wings. The Red Wings score thirty goals, beat all the kids into bloody pulps, and the LittlestCancerPatient that was relying on the game for moral support dies.

* Literary, non-sports example: In ''HarryPotter and the [=Philospher's/Sorcerer=]'s Stone'', Gryffindor wins the House Cup because Neville scored the last ten points they needed to break the tie with Slytherin.

* ''{{Rudy}}'' is an interesting example. The titular underdog begs to play in the big game so he can prove to his family that he's on the team. His never-give up attitude having been such an inspiration to the team, they go out of their way to get a large enough lead so that he can make the final play without any risk.
** And then Rudy gets the sack anyway.

* Played with in ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', in the episode "Take Me Out To The Holosuite". They substitute Rom in at the last minute after he got booted from the team for being unable to hit, catch, or throw the ball during practice, and he completely accidentally makes a bunt that lets Nog get the Niners' only run of the game, they still lose ten to one but the team still treats it as a triumph and celebrates afterward.
** FridgeBrilliance: As the Niners celebrated their first run, Solok tries to get the attention of Odo (who is umpiring the game), and is ejected much in the manner that Sisko was (touching the umpire). As the Vulcan team only brought nine players to the game (including Solok as a player-manager), the Vulcans would have had to forfeit the game. Sisko's roster had 11 active players (Sisko, Kasidy, Jake, Kira, Bashir, Worf, Quark, Rom, Leeta, Dax, and Nog), and thus were able to continue playing after Sisko's ejection.

* It's been argued that not following this trope is what could have changed the outcome of Game 6 of the 1986 World Series. In previous games in clutch situations, Bill Buckner had been pulled from first base and replaced with Dave Stapleton, but they decided to let Buckner stay in so that he could be on the field when the Red Sox got their World Series win. Which never came. [[hottip:*:at least, not for another 18 years.]]