Rookie roast: Tigers take Starbucks by storm

October 5th, 2022

SEATTLE -- Tigers pitchers and were sitting in the visiting clubhouse on Wednesday morning at T-Mobile Park when one asked the other if he wanted coffee. They agreed, and Rodriguez said to send the rookies to get it.

Minutes later, Tigers rookies and second-year players -- about half the roster on a young Detroit ballclub -- were walking out of the ballpark and down First Avenue in full uniform, led by a giddy , looking for a Starbucks they were told was just a few blocks away but ended up more like a 10-minute walk as they checked their cell phones.

“Rookie initiations have changed over the years,” manager A.J. Hinch said as he waited for his tall vanilla latte with almond milk.

The Tigers had apparently discussed making a coffee run like this back at Comerica Park on Sunday, but the combination of players busy packing up their stuff and traffic downtown -- the Lions played across the street that day -- made it impractical. Rodriguez and Chafin revived the idea on a spur of the moment in Seattle on the final day of the season.

It ended up arguably being funnier on the road as Seattle residents going about their Wednesday morning tried to figure out why , ,  and others were walking down the sidewalk away from the ballpark.

A couple of cars honked as they drove by. Fellow pedestrians grabbed their cell phones for pictures. Players posed for pictures with people at the Starbucks.

“You guys have your hands full today,” one passerby told them, either referring to the Mariners team they were facing Wednesday or the massive coffee order that filled a page of paper.

Nobody enjoyed it more than Cabrera, who strutted into the coffee shop and sat down at a corner table as he waited for his teammates to get his order.

“We are rookies,” Cabrera joked to a passerby as they walked down the street.

Hinch remembers being a rookie on the Oakland A’s and having to serve food and drinks on the team plane while holding a football and wearing an Oakland Raiders helmet, a difficult task for a Denver Broncos fan.

Understandably, he told players to be back at a reasonable time. But he also let them have their fun.

“I made my order as complicated as possible,” Hinch said.

The final tab came out to 35 orders for players, staff, a few fans at Starbucks and a couple of people who had to wait in line behind them. Rodriguez gave up the final bill, somewhere around $200.

"I thought it was going to be worse,"  said. "Guys tend to order pretty simple drinks when you have a game. Had it been an off-day, I think it probably would've run up the tab, a couple extra pumps of syrup."