Reds swap props for mystery in HR celebration

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

CINCINNATI -- In a transaction you may have missed last weekend, the Reds gave the Viking helmet and cape used in home run celebrations their unconditional release.

"One of the things about baseball is you never have the same team twice, ever," catcher Luke Maile said on Sunday. "The old celebration will always have a place on the ’23 team. And the ’24 team is going to have something different."

The players, believed to be led by Maile and left fielder/first baseman Spencer Steer, chose to make the change.

“Just switching things up," Steer said. "It felt like it had kind of run its course. It was as simple as, 'Let’s shake something up here.'"

The players decided to go with a hidden display of fun for their home run celebrations. You likely won't see them posing for pictures on social media after their home runs anymore, either.

It began on Saturday in the first inning vs. the Dodgers, when Steer hit a two-out solo homer. Players left the dugout and headed for the clubhouse tunnel.

After crossing home plate, Steer ran straight into the tunnel to join them. The ritual was repeated in the second inning after Will Benson hit his two-out solo homer.

All of the celebrating -- which is reportedly loud and boisterous -- was done out of view from the Great American Ball Park crowd and television cameras.

“We’re keeping it P.C. -- private celebration," Steer said on Monday.

Perhaps only those inside in the Diamond Club dining room could catch a glimpse through a small window where the tunnel is visible.

Why in the tunnel and out of sight?

“Why not?" Maile replied. "Look around the league and it’s the most ridiculous [stuff] I’ve ever seen in my life night after night. And this one hasn’t been done. I guess that’s why. It hasn’t been done.”

Before the start of the 2023 season, Reds players came up with the helmet and cape idea, as elaborate celebrations have proliferated around the league in recent years.

Luis Cessa came up with the idea of getting a Viking helmet, because he thought Jake Fraley looked like a Viking. It was about as simple as that.

During Friday's 9-6 win over Los Angeles, Jonathan India hit a fifth-inning grand slam and became the last Cincinnati player to don the helmet and cape. There was no concern about superstition for shaking things up after a win.

“We’re a process-oriented team. We don’t worry about that hocus-pocus stuff," Maile said.

A three-game series sweep of the Dodgers came on the heels of a brutal month for the Reds. Before that, they hadn't won consecutive games or a series in a month as the offense struggled mightily -- including during a stretch where the team lost 18 of 23 games.

For the players, it felt like the right time to create something new. What remains to be seen is if the new hidden celebration is transitional until something more elaborate comes along.

“We’ll see, who knows? I think we’re going to roll with it for now until further notice," Steer said. "You never know what’s going to happen.”