Just because the Blue Jays trip to Texas is one of the team’s most crucial series of the season, it doesn’t mean that the team’s rookies have been spared from a traditional hazing ritual.
On Wednesday evening, as the team left the Rogers Centre to board their flight down to Arlington, Tex., — where they’ll begin a three-game series against the Rangers on Friday – the squad’s freshmen were dressed for the occasion, wearing modified cowboy outfits.
The team shared several photos on Thursday of the rookies in their getups as the left the stadium for the team bus, all wearing cutoff plaid shirts and jean shorts, along with cowboy hats and boots as the strolled past onlooking fans.
Brett Bateman, who was acquired at the trade deadline from the Cubs in the deal that sent Kevin Gausman to the Windy City, was seen handing out corn to some fans. One lucky bystander even got a cob signed by a couple of players.
Even Trey Yesavage, who made his MLB debut last September and was part of the team’s World Series run, but technically still qualifies as a rookie, took part in the tradition.
Who wore it the best?
Fans online got in on the fun, too, arguing over which player wore it the best.
Catcher Brandon Valenzuela got a few votes — “Don’t usually have much to say about Valenzuela but … damn,” one user commented on Reddit. — while another simply commented “SMOKAMOTO.”
But it appears that the straw-poll voting favoured Charles McAdoo.
“I was not familiar with Charles McAdoo’s thigh game. My goodness,” one user commented.
“I know people are talking about Valenzuela, but by the looks of McAdoo’s legs, his last name should be McAdonk!” another joked.
What else have the rookies been forced to do?
This isn’t the first time this season that the Jays rookies have been forced to endure a little good-natured hazing.
When the team visited the Cubs in June, the team sent out Yesavage, Okamoto and others on a coffee run for the team — in full uniform.
The group was spotted by a photographer who posted several photos of the players carrying trays of drinks and treats from a Starbucks location near Wrigley Field in the Windy City.
Alongside Yesavage and Okamato were Yohendrick Pinango, Spencer Miles and McAdoo.
According to Cory Sechrest, who documented the adventure, the rookie coffee run tradition began in 2014, when the Los Angeles Dodgers sent Joc Pederson to Starbucks to pick up refreshments.