What happens in the locker room is usually supposed to stay in the locker room, but former MLB first baseman Mark Reynolds was kind enough to share a few stories with us this week as we patiently wait for sports to return.
In an interview with Evan Cohen and Mike Babchik on Mad Dog Sports Radio Tuesday, Reynolds spoke about all the money that changes hands between players in the clubhouse. He said he has seen guys bet on childish board games and pay each other large sums of money to eat disgusting things.
ICYM #MorningMen w/ @EvcoRadio & @Babchik, former MLB player Mark Reynolds talked about what really went down in the clubhouse and which STAR teammate would bet thousands of dollars on connect 4!
For more from #MorningMen visit: https://t.co/CjOpLA4CF9 pic.twitter.com/EXXEnNq2zz
— Mad Dog Sports Radio (@MadDogRadio) April 14, 2020
“There’s been $1,000 games of tic-tac-toe. I’ve seen (Max) Scherzer and someone else battle for thousands of dollars in Connect Four, and there’s groups of people around watching. It’s crazy. It’s so much fun. Then you have the typical, here, eat this chewed-up cookie with milk and dip on it for like $500 to a rookie or someone. We had a bullpen catcher one year that actually made more money doing stupid stuff like that than he made doing his job.”
Reynolds said the grossest thing he ever saw was a guy eat a chewed-up cookie with milk and tobacco poured onto it. The deed was done for around $1,200, which is obviously a lot for younger players who are years away from making high-end salaries. With the activity Reynolds described, some of the rookie hazing we have seen in MLB clubhouses doesn’t look so bad.
As long as players aren’t gambling on games, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred probably won’t have an issue with any of the stuff Reynolds mentioned. We’d love to hear more stories like that.
