Team Italy is on an unexpected tear in the World Baseball Classic. It went undefeated in group play, and even handed the U.S. its only defeat. Now, it's going to face Puerto Rico in the first round of the playoffs on Saturday.
Powering the Azzurri in the dugout has been an espresso machine. In a quirky tradition, if you hit a home run, you get a shot of espresso after you round the bases, and your number gets added to the machine. But what espresso maker are the Italians using? I did a little sleuthing to find out, and it's surprisingly affordable.
To find out which machine they were using, I looked at a number of clips from the games where ballplayers pulled — then chugged — a shot of espresso. It wasn't easy, as it looks like the team covered the maker's logos with stickers, but based on what I could see of the design and buttons (as well as the pods and cups), this looks to be the Lavazza Blue Classy Mini, which you can find on Amazon for $109.
If you're going to be traveling around the country and need something you can easily carry, this espresso machine looks to be a good option, as it has a very small footprint — which would also make it good for those with tiny kitchens.
It also has just two buttons: one for a programmable dose and one pre-set, which keeps things simple. After all, you want your players to focus on the game, not on pulling the perfect shot. However, it does have a rather small water tank, so if your team starts hitting a bunch of homers — as Italy did against Mexico — you're going to have to refill it more frequently.
The machine apparently belongs to Royals first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino, who also thought up the idea to serve up a shot with every home run. Given that he hit three against Mexico, he was undoubtedly jittery by the end of the game.
We haven't had a chance to test this machine, so we can't say where it ranks among the best espresso machines, but on Amazon is has a rating of 4.5 stars from more than 2,400 reviews.
Team Italy taking "grounds crew" to a whole new level ☕️😤🇮🇹 pic.twitter.com/zpTRwdT7VaMarch 11, 2023
This is not the first time the team has brought this type of gear to the dugout. It started in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, where the team had a Nespresso machine; back then, the team didn't bother to cover the logo.
Has the Italian team found an edge to winning the World Baseball Classic? We'll find out soon enough — they play Puerto Rico in the first playoff game on Saturday.
