Excitement over baseball cards in a MLB clubhouse

[ValKehl]

My Washington Nationals are likely to endure another lousy season, and the players likely realize this, but this doesn't stop them from having card fun in the clubhouse! I think everyone will enjoy reading these first few paragraphs from a piece that appears in the Sports Section of today's Wash. Post:

The Nats’ clubhouse vibes? Electric. The reason? Baseball cards.

By Chelsea Janes
March 1, 2024 at 1:28 p.m. EST

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — After workouts late Friday morning, as players filtered back into the Washington Nationals’ clubhouse to bide the time before their spring training game, a circle formed around Riley Adams. The backup catcher was wearing purple latex gloves and holding a box of baseball cards. Closer Kyle Finnegan was holding a hat with small pieces of paper in it. And for some reason — one that was initially a mystery to players who arrived midway through the process — everyone was yelling.

“A Joey Votto!” Adams yelled as confused infielders Nasim Nuñez and Darren Baker, bags on their shoulder from the workouts, walked in on the commotion.

“Are they gambling?” Nuñez wondered aloud. Baker marched directly to an opening in the circle, bat still in hand, and tried to figure out what was happening. Somewhat surprisingly for a baseball clubhouse, where fantasy sports and golf wagers are a part of life, the answer to Nunez’s question was no. They were not gambling. They were collecting.

A group that included Adams, Finnegan, right-hander Cade Cavalli, outfielder Lane Thomas and catcher Drew Millas had chipped in money to buy a box of rare baseball cards. The players were pulling names out of a hat to see who got to keep which card.

Adams was the emcee, lifting each card out of the box with care, showing it carefully with his glove-clad fingers, then announcing just how rare the card claimed it was. An Edgar Martínez was one of five. A Ken Griffey Jr. was one of four. A David Ortiz autograph was highly coveted. Everyone was very polite when a Dansby Swanson rookie card ended up with Cavalli. But the biggest prize was undisputed.

“Shohei!” Adams said, holding up a shiny Shohei Ohtani card as the circle tightened slightly. It was Thomas’s turn to pick a name from the hat. He looked at the paper. The name written on it was his. The room erupted.