The Italian national team made waves at this year’s World Baseball Classic, going undefeated through a stacked group stage that included powerhouses America and Mexico on their way to a Semifinals appearance, the country’s best finish to date. But their greatest contribution to the World Baseball Classic was of course coffee.
As we previously reported, the 2026 team’s chosen home run celebration was with a shot of espresso in the club house, with Royals first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino acting as barista pulling the shots (except for when he hit three dingers of his own against Mexico). It was a historic performance for the Italian contingent and now, you can own a part of that history. The team is auctioning off their espresso machine for charity.
As reported by Sports Illustrated, the machine up for grabs was used during pool play, the quarterfinals, and the semifinals rounds of this year’s World Baseball Classic. It has been customized to feature the WBC logo and an I for Italy. It’s also got a sticker that reads “baseball isn’t boring” as well as the jersey number of every person who hit a home run, in the order they were hit, which is why you see Pasquantino’s number 9 so prominently featured.
Now, this item is admittedly more for the baseball collector how likes coffee and not vice versa. It’s still a Nespresso machine after all and the going price is over $5,000 right now. Which is to say, $5,000 can buy you a lot more machine than that if the coffee is what you’re after.
Nonetheless the proceeds go to a good cause. Per SI, all money raised from the auction will go to The Southwest Autism Research and Resource Center, who “provides help for children, teens, and adults with autism.” Pasquantino wrote on Twitter that choice to donate to this cause in particular was “a group decision because this center has helped some people that are apart [sic] of our team.”
So it’s bad coffee for a good cause. And a reminder of the fun that meaningful baseball can be, even if it happens before spring training begins. Now if we can just figure out how to get America to stop losing in the Finals.
Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.
