TAMPA AND CLEVELAND -- Vinny Rottino draws the low card, giving him the deal over broadcast partner Jeff Levering. And the latest installment of the “Levtino Cribbage Classic” is underway at the start of the Brewers’ road trip.
Poke your head in the television booth on an afternoon that Levering will be on the call and former Brewer Rottino is color commentating, and there’s a chance you’ll see the duo hovered over a cribbage board playing Wisconsin’s unofficial state game (we’ll cover Sheepshead another day). Levering, born and raised in California, learned cribbage from some friends before the start of the 2023 season and fell in love. One day, he asked Rottino if he knew how to play.
Rottino was born and raised in Racine, Wis., and is, by all accounts, a self-respecting Cheesehead. Of course he knew how to play.
“My dad taught me how to play when I was in first or second grade,” Rottino said. “When you learn basic arithmetic, you learn how to play cribbage.”
The Brewers will help spread the game on Saturday at American Family Field, when the first 25,000 fans through the turnstiles will go home with a cribbage board featuring the Racing Sausages. The board is a beauty, complete with a hidden compartment that holds the scoring pegs and a deck of playing cards.
A legend circulating the press box suggests that the idea for the giveaway came from this cribbage rivalry among broadcasters, which became public knowledge near the end of the 2023 season.
“It was going down to the wire in Pittsburgh,” Levering said. “They showed a shot of us playing, and they had a graphic of what the scores were in the season series.
“I mean, I’m not going to say we’re taking credit for it, but we’ve been playing for a long time.”
For the past three seasons, they’ve played every day they’ve shared the TV booth. Levering won the inaugural title and Rottino bounced back to win Year 2. So far this season, it’s a dead heat at six games apiece after Levering fared better on the road trip than the ballclub he covers, going 4-2 with series wins over Rottino at both stops.
They track results on a spreadsheet that includes a record of “skunks” -- if you know, you know -- and space for a comment. Only the day’s winner has comment privileges, making it a place to trash-talk for posterity.
Ribbing aside, Rottino was impressed by how quickly Levering picked up the strategies of the game, which we should lay out. Cribbage is a race to 121 points in which players take turns dealing hands and can score in two phases, first pegging and then counting their hand. You can score on combinations of 15, on pairs and runs and sometimes on 31, or a single Jack, known as “nobs.” But before all that, each player must choose cards to discard into the crib, which forms a second hand for the dealer.
You just have to play it to get it. Oh, and you’ll need some equipment beyond a deck of cards. The typical scorekeeping device is a wooden board with colored pegs -- hence, the Brewers’ giveaway.
The former Brewers cribbage king was first baseman Rowdy Tellez, who once declared himself “the greatest player to ever play, if I had to guess.” He initially dismissed Levering’s challenge, then finally accepted one day when the Brewers were in New York playing the Mets.
Levering won by a point.
“Jeff has been getting big hands lately,” Rottino said. “That’s the thing, he can’t win without getting monsters. I can nickel and dime him and beat him. But he’s a beginner. I’ve been playing my whole life.”
Levering smiles. He knows his partner is trying to get under his skin.
The talk is always friendly, as is the game play. In cribbage, the cutthroat or “Muggins” method allows an opponent to claim any points his opponent fails to count. But if Levering or Rottino notice a mistake, they’ll point it out and allow the opponent to take the points he deserves.
“We don’t want it to get contentious,” Rottino said. “I feel like if we started taking each other’s points -- ‘Oh, you missed your nobs!’ -- it could get a little bit [tense]. We want to make sure we have great chemistry on the air.”
“And sometimes,” Levering says, “you’re dealt a trash hand with no points, like this one I’m holding in my hand right now.”
They’re neck and neck before Rottino pulls away with a couple of big scores. The richest hand they remember in an officially sanctioned game was a 20 scored by Levering. While killing time during Saturday’s rain delay in Tampa, Rottino scored a monster 24-pointer.
![Former Brewers first baseman Rowdy Tellez declared himself "the greatest [cribbage] player to ever play."](https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-images/image/upload/mlb/ajuin4npfgsauojd1qfp.jpg)
The magical 29-point hand -- three fives and a Jack in hand, when the cut card is a five of the same suit as the Jack -- remains elusive for now. The odds are about one in 3.2 million.
There are no 29s today. As it nears time to head down to the clubhouse for manager Pat Murphy’s daily media session, Levering is up against it. Rottino needs 16 more points to win, and he knows he has it when a fortuitous cut gives him a double-double run.
It’s over.
“And that’s a skunk, ladies and gents,” Rottino says, pounding the table and clapping his hands.
“That’s a big L for Levering,” his broadcast partner says in defeat.
But all is not lost, or won.
In cribbage, as in baseball, there’s always a game tomorrow.
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IF YOU ATTEND SATURDAY
The Brewers are expecting a lot of interest for this giveaway. Gates open two hours prior to Saturday’s 6:15 p.m. CT first pitch, and you should leave some extra time to get inside. If you want to make it as easy as possible, the Brewers this year became one of 10 teams offering MLB Go-Ahead Entry, which gives registered fans expedited passage at the Home Plate West and Third Base gates. And all ballpark gates also offer express lanes for fans who leave personal bags behind or limit bags to no larger than 9” x 5” x 2.”