7 times MLB players busted out props to celebrate a huge moment
In the fourth quarter of Sunday's game against the Los Angeles Rams, New Orleans Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas reeled in a 72-yard touchdown catch to seal a victory. And then he pulled out his cellphone:
Brees finds Michael Thomas for the dagger! #LARvsNO pic.twitter.com/yhayoE2tEz
— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) November 5, 2018
Yet more evidence that just about every celebration could be dramatically improved by the addition of a prop or two. But this phenomenon is hardly exclusive to football -- just look at all the things MLB players have incorporated over the years. (And they didn't even get flagged for it.)
The TOEnight Show
Not only did the Yankees get all the way to Game 7 of the ALCS in 2017, but they even managed to launch their very own late-night show while they were at it -- starring whichever player had just gone yard as its special guest. Sure, the "camera" was really just a snack bucket, but don't tell Ronald Torreyes that:
The Bucket of Filth
The Nationals began the 2015 season by squeezing a bottle of chocolate syrup onto players' heads after a walk-off win, and somehow things only got weirder (and grosser) from there.
The ritual started in the eighth or ninth inning of close home games, when Jayson Werth and teammates would begin filling a Gatorade bucket with whatever they could find around the dugout -- from water to sunflower seeds to Alka-Seltzer. The result? The Bucket of Filth:
The jump shot
Khris Davis would like to take this opportunity to let everyone know that he's really a two-sport star:
Edwing
Edwin Encarnacion had long been known as Edwing, inspired by the imaginary parrot he seemed to hold on his arm during his home-run trot. When he went yard to win the 2016 AL Wild Card Game, Ezequiel Carrera decided to make that imaginary parrot real -- well, a plush version at least:
Adam Jones and his many pies
He's since gone into pastry-throwing retirement, but once upon a time, no one threw a celebratory pie like Adam Jones. He had pies for new teammates:
Pies for clinching the division:
Alas, Buck Showalter remained immune:
An impromptu confetti shower
At 6-foot-3, 250 pounds, Jesus Aguilar is one of the most imposing sluggers in baseball. But we all have our fears, and Aguilar just so happens to really, really hate surprises:
Sammy Sosa and the American flag
On Sept. 27, 2001, the Cubs came back to Wrigley for the team's first home game since the attacks on 9/11. When Sammy Sosa ran out to right field at the start of the night, he did so with a miniature American flag -- and it was still with him when he hit a home run later in the game:
