While tales of rookie hazing are rampant throughout professional sports, there's a new trend in Major League Baseball that's far more humane but no less embarrassing (and awesome): forcing newbies to pick up coffee in full uniform.
Tuesday morning, a handful of St. Louis Cardinal rookies were photographed making a coffee run at a Starbucks next to Wrigley Field before the first game of a day-night doubleheader against the Chicago Cubs. Among the rookies sent to fetch the lattes were pitchers Mitch Harris and Miguel Socolovich and bullpen catcher Kleininger Teran.
At least the coffee was necessary. The Cards and Cubs started the day game of the twin-bill at 12:20 p.m. local time after Monday's night game ended late thanks to a lengthy rain delay.
The Cardinals run on Starbucks. pic.twitter.com/HWNRxJ8bSL
— Chris Emma (@CEmma670) July 7, 2015
A photo posted by Derrick Goold (@dgoold) on Jul 7, 2015 at 8:40am PDT
The Cardinal coffee run is complete! pic.twitter.com/vmGQMIDHWE
— Chris Emma (@CEmma670) July 7, 2015
This isn't the first time an MLB team has sent the rooks on such a run. The Dodgers started the trend last fall when they sent a few new players, including Joc Pederson, to the same Chicago Starbucks.
Made a Starbucks run for the team ☕️ #fulluni #chiTown #rookieish
A photo posted by Joc Pederson (@yungjoc650) on Sep 19, 2014 at 10:30am PDT
And this June, when the Dodgers were back in Chicago, Pederson and a few fellow youngsters got sent on the same run before yet another traditional Wrigley Field day game.
Oh, you know, just a group of @Dodgers making a pre-game coffee run in Wrigleyville. pic.twitter.com/PaJxXXliBO
— SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) June 25, 2015
Album dropping soon. pic.twitter.com/wPHdbAU0qR
— #MVPtoASG (@Dodgers) June 25, 2015