The Rockies need a home run celebration

A craze is sweeping Major League Baseball: the home run celebration!

Perhaps you’ve seen some of them, for they are abundant.

The Twins have gone fishing:

Those Baby Birds are living their best lives:

And here’s my personal favorite, the Mariners’ trident:

Home run celebrations are the best! They commemorate a significant event; they allow players to have fun and express themselves; and they give fans something to enjoy.

They’re also a way for teams to reinforce their identities. The Twins, for example, are located in the Land of 10,000 lakes, so the fishing vest makes sense and reiterates their ties to the larger community; the Orioles’ “Homer Hose” (or “Dong Bong,” as it’s been termed unofficially) fits a team of youngsters; and the Mariners’ trident, well, look, the team’s name is “Mariners,” so it’s on-brand.

That brings us to the Colorado Rockies, who do not have a home run celebration in 2023.

Well, the player hitting the home run returns to the dugout, where he receives smiles and cheers and high-fives and an occasional hug.

And that’s it.

Case in point: Brenton Doyle hit his first MLB home run on Saturday against the Mets, and you know what? He deserved a party, not just hugs and handshakes.

Back in 2021, Sam Hilliard introduced the Rally Shades, which were fun.

(Look at the pic, and this column immediately turns into a “Remembering Some Guys” piece, but I digress.)

As Patrick Saunders has noted, the Rockies lack a clear identity. We’re one month into the season, and this continues to be an amorphous team. Creating a home run celebration would be one strategy that would allow the Rockies to begin understanding and expressing who they are.

In addition, it would be fun — both for players and fans. This is especially important when a team is struggling. Celebrations can help break things up when a team is grinding without seeing results.

In fairness, the Rockies have not hit very many home runs in 2023 — 30 so far, which ranks 26th in MLB. There just hasn’t been much to celebrate.

But witness the Cincinnati Reds, who have hit only 27 home runs. To their credit, the Reds make the most of the moment:

A Viking helmet, robe, and scepter? Go for it!

Baseball is fun, but the season is long. Home runs are events to savor and celebrate. The Rockies (and their fans) need more of both. (And if the Rockies see themselves as too serious for this kind of thing, then that’s a different problem.)

It’s time for a Mile High Home Run Extravaganza.

Leave your suggestions in the comments.

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Coors Field Attendance

According to ESPN, 435,254 have attended 16 games at Coors Field in 2023. That number ranks 16th in baseball. The average Coors Field game attendance is 27,203. (Last week, the average attendance was 27,712.)

As a benchmark, in 2022, the average game attendance at Coors Field was 32,467.

Again, it’s much too soon to draw any conclusions, but this is what we know so far.

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Piano a Key in Bird’s Breakout Campaign | Rockies Blog

Jack Etkin spoke with Jake Bird about the importance playing the piano plays in the reliever’s life. Like many of us, Bird found his life disrupted by the pandemic in 2020. After locating a dusty keyboard in a closet, Bird taught himself to play using his ear and YouTube. Since then, he’s moved from YouTube videos to studying music theory and expanding his repertoire — and catcher Brian Serven has been known to make some requests.

All the Team Home Run Celebrations Ranked | MLB.com

You already know that I think home runs celebrations matter. In this article, Will Leitch ranks all of them. He starts with the Royals’ catcher’s mask at 13 and then works his way through the wide range of celebrations teams have adopted.

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