The Los Angeles Dodgers will depart their spring training complex in Phoenix on Wednesday to board a plane that’ll shepherd them across the Pacific Ocean ahead of their season-opening series in Tokyo against the Chicago Cubs. While players are encouraged to sleep during specific windows to combat jet lag, there’s only so much time one can spend catching z’s while seated on a 14-hour plus flight.
If they end up craving a friendly dose of competition with their teammates, they may initiate a classic card game that’s often kept them busy in the back of the team plane over the last several years: poker.
“The game's been going for a long time, and I just got to join last year,” says center fielder Tommy Edman, a 2024 trade deadline acquisition. “[Miguel Rojas] plays a lot, he's always in there. [Kevin] Kiermaier won a ton of money last year. [Brent Honeywell] would always play, [Tyler] Glasnow plays.”
While the popular Texas Hold ‘em version of poker is typically the group’s game of choice, several variations make their way into the mix over the course of a season.
“Our games are a little different,” says catcher Austin Barnes. “The best player straight up is probably [Clayton Kershaw]. He plays how you’re supposed to play, other people get a little wild.”
“Sometimes I'll go back there and dabble,” says reliever Anthony Banda. “I don't really like gambling, although it's not anything crazy. … But still, I cannot [afford to] lose.”
The Dodgers also put their money where their mouths are when it comes to fantasy football. While Barnes lays claim to being the best fantasy manager over his decade in Los Angeles, last season’s title was won by a team co-owned by reliever Evan Phillips, starting pitcher Tony Gonsolin and team trainer Bernard Li.
“We have so many guys that like fantasy football that you’ve got to team up,” explains Edman, who took part in six leagues last season. “I was teammates with Walker [Buehler] last year, and I was wondering why Walker didn't have a teammate yet. Then I realized it’s because he likes to take control of the team.”
After Edman had limited influence on last year’s team, with Buehler now on the Boston Red Sox, he says, “Hopefully, I’ll have a little bit more to do with the transactions this year.”
Ping pong has long been a popular pastime in the Dodgers clubhouse, with Kershaw frequently holding a charity event called Ping Pong 4 Purpose that pits players against celebrities for a good cause. The most recent edition in 2023 was won by Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman, who defeated the duo of Kershaw and Barnes in the championship. (A poker tournament preceded the ping pong games and resumed after Betts and Freeman’s victory to conclude the evening.)
But over the last couple of years, a game called Biñho has threatened to take over as the team’s clubhouse activity of choice. The two-player board game in the shape of a soccer field features players flicking a miniature ball through their opponent’s defense made up of 10 metal pegs. That figures to ramp up as the U.S. prepares to jointly host the 2026 World Cup.
And just like every other MLB team, the defending World Series champions have many players who arguably work as hard on their golf game as they do fielding fundamentals during spring training. (Catcher Will Smith was named by multiple teammates as the team’s best golfer).
“I think as competitors, there's always that element of competition in all aspects of our lives, right?” Phillips says. “So within the clubhouse we have board games that we play, in the bullpen we play different kinds of games like that. So little things like that are just kind of natural for us to be competitive about.”
It’s not as if the Dodgers are constantly competing for bragging rights, though. While camaraderie can be forged through competition, clubhouse chemistry is also built through casual conversation.
“I think those are the biggest moments where people learn more about each other—in the conversations that go on,” Banda says. “I've had plenty of amazing conversations with former teammates and current teammates [during flights].”
With many Dodgers bringing family members on Wednesday’s flight to keep them company on the trip to Japan, poker may have to wait until the team’s first domestic road trip of the season. And while a new group of teammates are still getting to know each other, perhaps that’s for the best.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as How the Star-Studded Dodgers Stay Competitive Off the Field.
