Boisterous Novak brings quirky tees to bullpen

This story was excerpted from Daniel Kramer’s Mariners Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

SEATTLE -- The depth in which Justin Novak’s hobby has evolved has necessitated creativity, persistence and, in many instances, scouring the deeper corners of the internet for his next purchase.

The Mariners’ boisterous bullpen catcher has made it his mission to collect a customized T-shirt recognizing every player who joins Seattle's big league roster this season. These aren’t shirseys or team-sanctioned gear, but rather unique and often unbranded material created by fans who proxy as artists, who themselves also have a hobby of illustrating their favorite players in imaginative ways.

The shirts mostly feature a fun or quirky slogan for each player, which further illustrates their personalities. As such, they can both be incredibly creative but also difficult to find -- especially for those lesser-known.

“I’m just a big fan of the boys,” Novak said. “That’s really what it boils down to.”

What began as a small cluster, specifically to Seattle’s relievers, has since grown into nearly two full lockers in the coaches' locker room at T-Mobile Park. Etsy and eBay are Novak's primary shopping outlets, where sometimes the shipping prices outweigh the shirt itself -- but such is the cost of doing business.

Some of the gems:

“Oops, All Aces”

It features a series of five cards, each with a watercolor image of the Mariners' five starting pitchers. It’s a quip that a deck of cards can only feature four aces, and that, sarcastically, they’re unapologetic for having so many.

“I Just Hope Logan Gilbert Is Having Fun”

No images, just text, and a good-natured jab at one of the easy targets for jokes in the clubhouse. Gilbert is as approachable as any Mariners player, but he can be intense on start days, hence his alter ego, “Walter.”

“George Kirby’s Dream Land”

It has a picture of the Nintendo character, but instead of smiling and in his pink shade, it has him in navy blue and angry -- not too dissimilar to Kirby's mound demeanor.

“Captain”

A cartoon of J.P. Crawford operating a pirate ship as a play on his role as the Mariners’ unofficial team leader.

Novak even has shirts for guys who are sidelined for the season (Matt Brash) or who were only on the big league roster for a few games (Kirby Snead).

All of these garments remain at the ballpark, where he ensures that he doesn’t lose them, and in proximity to the laundry room to keep them clean. He’ll bring a few on the road, too, and he basically wears them immediately upon arrival every day until it’s time to put on his game uniform.

“I've never had the Energizer Bunny as our bullpen catcher,” said Ryne Stanek, who played for the Rays, Marlins and Astros before the Mariners, and as such, worked with many bullpen catchers.

“He's great. He's always got something -- it's either the shirts or he's yelling stuff in the bullpen. Like, he's always on. And I've never seen somebody be on as much as him -- like, just as a human being. It's fun because like he's always, always in a good mood. So it's easy to vibe with that.”

Relievers forming close bonds is about as on-brand as anything in baseball. They can inherently have quirky personalities, given that they only pitch for an inning or two, often don’t know when they’ll enter a game and otherwise are sitting in the bullpen for long periods of time each game.

For all these reasons, if they struggle, it’s typically exacerbated. That’s where Novak’s infectious presence also plays a big part.

Everyone calls him “Champ,” a nickname that stuck after the Mariners first-base coach Kristopher Negrón gave it to him in 2021, when they were both on the staff at Triple-A Tacoma. It was an effort to recognize that Novak had won the College World Series as a freshman at the University of Virginia in 2015, and to show the Tacoma players that Novak had legit experience.

“You just see him always interacting with people, just fans -- all the time,” reliever Tayler Saucedo said. “It's just like he's known them for 10 years.”

Born in Tokyo in 1995, Novak visited the U.S. throughout his childhood, but didn’t move here permanently until college. He first joined the Mariners in 2019 as Yusei Kikuchi’s interpreter, then he worked on their player-development staff in '20, at the alternate training site with Minor Leaguers who had their season canceled. He left for a gig with the Padres in '21 then returned in '22, where he’s been one of the club’s two bullpen catchers since.