The Nats’ 13 postseason HR dances, ranked
Even if the Houston Astros weren’t having the week they are having, it would be difficult not to get behind the Washington Nationals if you had no rooting interest heading into the World Series. The first two games have provided an opportunity for most baseball fans to learn what Nats fans have known all season: This team is fun.
And so much of that fun has been channeled through their home run celebrations. Choreographed, synchronized, strategized, watching the Nationals revel in their postseason home runs has been nearly as fun as watching them hit them. So as we approach Game 3 and a Nationals Park crowd that may tear the doors off the place, here are Nationals Postseason Homer Celebrations, Ranked.
1) The Vroom Vroom
World Series Game 2
Of all the Nationals’ dugout celebrations, this is the one they will be remembered for. It’s pretty fun even before Adam Eaton gets in the passenger seat with Howie Kendrick. But then the two of them just floor it like Thelma and Louise, straight into history. I personally prefer calling this “The Ronin,” but your mileage may vary.
2) The Euphoric Hip Swizzle of Dominance
NLDS Game 5
The biggest home run of the postseason was Juan Soto’s homer off Clayton Kershaw in Game 5 of the NLDS, the next pitch after Anthony Rendon had hit one, and Soto pounded his chest as he circled the bases. And in the dugout, his moves felt less like a victory dance and more like a muscular display of aggression and dominance … a physical representation of “I am the captain now.” This celebration makes you want to run through a wall.
3) The Suzuki Macarena
World Series Game 2
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This is not, physiologically speaking, an actual macarena. That requires more gluteal shaking, and there’s no need for that this early in a World Series. But Kurt Suzuki gets the fundamentals right, and if the Nationals win the World Series, you know he’ll be asked to do the full enchilada at the parade.
4) The Everybody Beat Up Howie Kendrick Shuffle
NLDS Game 5
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After Kendrick’s grand slam in the top of the 10th of the decisive NLDS Game 5, the Nationals dugout lost its mind so much that it almost forgot to do a dance at all. Instead everyone just started pounding on Kendrick. Honestly, the dance kind of works: We’d have been doing the same thing at that moment.
5) The Juan Soto Break It Down For Me Fellas
World Series Game 1
Soto has been such a force in this postseason that in many ways you can’t help but just sit back and watch him do his thing. His teammates here are smart just to stay out of his way.
6) The Grizzled Veteran Zimmerman Twirl
NLDS Game 4
Perhaps the most purely joyous homer of the Nationals’ postseason -- Ryan Zimmerman’s blast made you immediately wonder if the Nats really did have something magical going on -- gets a little spin from the Original Nat. The hug he receives is as sincere and warm-hearted as anything you’ll see in a big league dugout.
7) The Soto Shimmy
NLDS Game 3
The first of several Soto moments this postseason, he seemed to just be warming up his dance steps here, but the thing about 20-year-olds (now he's 21) is that they can dance better than you even if they’re just stretching a little bit. The best part is the older players trying to keep up with him. (We know the feeling, guys.)
8) The Robles Throw Your Hands in the Air As If There Are No Ramifications
NLCS Game 3
The best parts of any Nationals celebration are the coordination: It’s always more fun to watch four people do a dance than just one. Thus, Victor Robles tossing his hands up in the same moment his teammates do turns a regular movement into, essentially, jazz hands. JAZZ HANDS!
9) The High Fives To No One
NLDS Game 5
Anthony Rendon’s first homer of the series came off Clayton Kershaw in the top of the eighth of a decisive Game 5, and it only brought the Nationals within one run. So no one goes too crazy. That would have to wait for the next batter … in fact, the next pitch.
10) The Michael A. Taylor Freeze Pose
World Series Game 2
This was the “Enough already, the Astros are done” homer in the 12-3 blowout, so the Nats almost felt guilty about making too much out of this one. So it’s just Taylor freezing, like the end of an ‘80s sitcom episode.
11) The Ryan Zimmerman Just Happy To Be Here
World Series Game 1
It’s perfectly fitting that the first World Series homer in Nationals history would be hit by Zimmerman, off Gerrit Cole no less, and he seems so surprised and exhausted by the experience that he sort of forgets to dance. The World Series takes some getting used to for everyone.
12) The Taylor Freeze Pose, Redux
NLCS Game 1
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The Nationals didn’t yet know how much of a breeze their NLCS was going to be, so Taylor just strikes a couple of poses after his series-opening homer. They’d get plenty of opportunities to hone their craft. I know you just saw this one, but Taylor doesn’t vary his routine much and you can’t see it as well in this video as you could in the last one. It’s the same freeze.
13) The Turner Hop
NL Wild Card Game
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This was the first home run celebration of the postseason, and it in fact marked the first runs the Nationals put on the board. They were behind, 3-1, to Milwaukee at the time -- remember, after the Brewers took a 3-0 lead, everyone was worried these were The Same Old Nationals -- and so the celebration is slightly subdued. But only slightly. Trea Turner has some spring in his step!