Italy has advanced to the semifinals of the World Baseball Classic where they will face Venezuela on Monday night. And if things go well during that game, you’ll see some of their players enjoying a shot of espresso in the dugout.
This celebration has gone viral throughout the tournament, as coffee drinkers everywhere have found it easy to relate to the tasty reward handed to a player after he hits a home run.
So why do they do it? The answer is pretty simple, according to manager Francisco Cervelli.
“In Italy, we drink coffee about 20 times a day,” Cervelli told MLB.com after their 8-0 victory over Brazil in their WBC opener. “It’s a tradition. You’re walking down the road. You see a coffee spot, get some coffee. Then you chitchat, and then keep walking and do the same thing all over and over again. That’s how Italy is.”
How the espresso celebration works for Team Italy
Every baseball team these days seems to have a home run celebration that they like to call their own. Team Italy is no different. After a player hits a home run he makes his way to the end of the dugout where he is handed a shot of espresso, which he then usually slugs down in one gulp.
Here’s how that looks:
This on-field view of Team Italy's espresso celebration 🔥 pic.twitter.com/elBFJeFff7
— World Baseball Classic (@WBCBaseball) March 8, 2026
Does every player enjoy the shot of espresso? Apparently not—at least not at first. Dante Nori hit two home runs against Brazil, so he got the celebratory shot twice. He wasn’t a fan at first, but it seemed to grow on him.
“I do not like coffee, so it did not taste great,” Nori told MLB.com. “The first one especially, I was like, ‘Ugh.’ But the second one, kind of liked that one a little bit more.”
And just like that we might have another coffee addict among us.
This history behind the espresso celebration
This is not the first time Team Italy has used this celebration at the WBC. They started doing it in 2023 where they advanced to the quarterfinals for the first time in their history at the event.
Baseball players can be superstitious, so it only makes sense that they have brought it back again for this year’s tournament.
And the espresso machine has been with them every step of the way.
“It goes everywhere with us,” Cervelli said to MLB.com. “It's something normal. We got it on the bus. We've had it in the dugout, everywhere.”
Team Italy’s path to the WBC semifinals
The espresso machine has gotten a lot of use at this year’s WBC as they’ve won all five games they’ve played, which included wins over Team USA and Mexico.
Italy beat Puerto Rico, 8-6, in their quarterfinal matchup last Saturday to set up their semifinal date with Venezuela, who beat Japan in a thriller to advance.
Vinnie Pasquantino has led the way for Italy with three home runs, which all came in a 9-1 win over Mexico. You have to think he wants to add to that total against Venezuela, and if he does we know how he’ll celebrate.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Why Italy Celebrates With Shots of Espresso at the World Baseball Classic .
