Nationals bring actual camels to spring training for 'Hump Day'

Mike Oz

The Washington Nationals, taking a page out of Joe Maddon’s playbook, gave us a spring training accessory you don’t see every day — camels. Yes, actual camels.

Why? Because Wednesday is “Hump Day,” of course. And because new Nats manager Dave Martinez is taking this “get over the hump” stuff quite literally.

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Martinez must have learned a few things from his days as Maddon’s No. 2 with the Chicago Cubs and Tampa Bay Rays because there’s no baseball-reason for this:

And, yes, there’s a deeper meaning beyond just imitating a Geico commercial. The Nats have never won a postseason series and have a World Series-caliber team. It’s Martinez’s job as Washington’s new manager to get them over the proverbial hump.

As he told reporters Wednesday, that’s exactly why he chose camels: “I want it out there,” he said. “For me, as I thought about it, the hump is every day.”

Every day? The Nats are gonna need more camels.

(@JamalCollier)
(@JamalCollier)

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Mike Oz is a writer at Yahoo Sports. Contact him at mikeozstew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!