This story was excerpted from Martín Gallegos’ A's Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
CHICAGO – The tradition of visiting teams at Wrigley Field sending players on a pregame coffee run has been in place for over a decade now. On Wednesday, it was time for the Athletics to partake.
Organized by clubhouse elder statesman Jeff McNeil, seven players dressed in full uniform about four hours before a 7:05 game against the Cubs were sent to the Starbucks down the street to pick up an order of about 27 coffees, placed by the A’s second baseman, for the team and coaching staff.
Per tradition rules, players with limited Major League service time are required to make the trek. For the A’s, those seven were Kade Morris (who was called up on June 2), Gage Jump (who made his second career start and earned his first win on the same day), Henry Bolte, Mason Barnett, Jack Perkins, Colby Thomas and Carlos Cortes.
“It was a bit awkward,” Jump said with a laugh. “It was cool, though. It was weird walking over there in full uniform. … I didn’t get a coffee, but I made sure everyone else got coffee. It was pretty funny.”
The orders ranged from cold brews to drip coffees and everything in between. As you could imagine, people walking outside the Friendly Confines had the reactions you would expect when randomly seeing a group of Major League ballplayers walking on the street while carrying handfuls of java.
“It was cool,” Thomas said. “Everybody was pretty cool about it. All the fans were taking pictures. The cars driving by, everybody had their phones out while we were standing there in full uniform four hours before the game.”
When those players are from the other side, of course, there is going to be some heckling.
“We got chirped a little bit,” Thomas said. “There was a little bit of heckling. But everyone was pretty cool. The Starbucks people didn’t know we were coming, but I guess they assumed because there was an order with 20-something coffees. We also had some leftover coffee after the game, so we grabbed a lot. It was fun.”
A’s manager Mark Kotsay never took part in the tradition as a player, though he’s experienced it a few times now as a coach. He made sure to get his order in. More importantly, he was happy to see his team having some fun in the midst of a long season.
“I got the Americano Grande, and it was a little burnt,” Kotsay said. “I wanted somebody to go back and get it replaced. … I kind of wish it was in the morning during a day game, but we weren’t afforded that opportunity and had to do it [Wednesday] afternoon. But hey, fun day for the young guys and the veterans to get them to go over and do a coffee run.”
It wasn’t just all work for the young A’s. In what was their first trip to the historic ballpark, Thomas and Bolte both had a chance to explore the venue, including a trip inside the legendary scoreboard beyond center field.
“This is such a cool area,” Thomas said. “It’s a sweet spot. They’ve kept the old stadium but updated it so much that it’s so nice without really changing anything about it. It’s sick.”