NEWSLETTER
There is a longstanding tradition in baseball that, upon the occasion of a no-hitter or a perfect game, gifts are exchanged in the clubhouse. The pitcher might give his catcher a big gift. The catcher might give the pitcher something memorable. The defense might get a little something, too, if they played a big role.
Things you see frequently? Fancy watches and expensive champagne.
So when the Cubs threw the first combined no-hitter in their Spring Training history, new cacher Tucker Barnhart decided to treat some of his colleagues to a surprise.
A hilarious surprise.
So after a no-hitter in an exhibition game, Barnhart bought children’s watches and bottles of sparkling grape juice. He got Spider-Man watches for Yan Gomes and Luis Torrens — who combined to catch the no-hitter — and Mario Brothers watches for Cubs pitching coach Tommy Hottovy and bullpen coach Chris Young. All four received a bottle of sparkling grape juice.
“I like to have fun,” a smiling Barnhart said.
You can see the gifts up in the picture above or in this video (I would embed from Twitter, but those seem to be broken right now). As you can see, Hottovy even wore his Mario Brothers watch for the game yesterday.
I love to see this kind of thing, especially from a new player whose presence in the clubhouse – and as a key member of the run-prevention infrastructure – is supposed to be part of his value. These kinds of lighter moments, which recognize teammates and coaches, have gotta be good for morale.
Even before the no-hitter was complete, Justin Steele was talking up Barnhart on the Marquee broadcast.
“Tucker’s come right in and he’s done an awesome job of developing the relationships with all the pitchers,” Steele said. “Not just the pitchers, just everybody on the team in general. Getting people together, going to dinners and stuff. It means a lot. That goes a long ways, especially through 162 and playoffs. It’s a long season.”
