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Baseball may be America’s favorite pastime, but Italian players are making the game their own.
Currently, the national teams compete in the World Baseball Classic, and the Italian team was awarded with – what else? – spotted an espresso machine in her dugout. The coffee setup was noted by the Growing Up Italian Twitter account, and was reported on by USA Today and coffee news website Sprudge, among others.
“Coffee is like water in Italy,” said the team’s head coach Mike Piazza. (Readers in the United States may know him better as the former Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets catcher.) He added that if he could also have a barista in the dugout, he certainly would have one who shot draws and steams milk for the team, according to MLB reporter Matt Monagan.
The Italian team appears to be serving Nespresso, a ruby red Essenza Mini to be precise, with a range of sweetener options pictured on the side of the machine. Unfortunately, they seem limited to using office-grade paper cups rather than the proper espresso cups that coffee connoisseurs would likely prefer.
This isn’t the first time baseball players have brought rather unconventional food and drink options to the dugout. During last year’s MLB season, the Toronto Blue Jays’ Lourdes Gurriel Jr. was spotted preparing a fruit cocktail (some diced fruit mixed with apple and orange juice) during a game. It might not have been as sophisticated as the Italians’ espresso, but it certainly seems like a better thirst quencher.
And while the Italians definitely live up to their brand, we’re not sure how good it is to sip dehydrating coffee in the middle of a professional sports game. When the espresso machine was first noticed, the Italian team was playing against Taipei and ended up losing 11-7. They managed to sneak into the quarterfinals but were finally ousted by Japan on Thursday.
On the plus side, this means the Italian players can go home and enjoy a more relaxed cup of espresso, perhaps with a nice biscuit or pastry on the side.
Buy Essenza Mini:
$179
