ODE TO JOY

Of tridents, cutlasses and water hoses: how MLB learned to love-and choreograph-the home run celebration

- EMMA BACCELLIERI

WHEN REDS PITCHER Luis Cessa moved from the bullpen to the rotation last August, he understood his job was shifting, with a new approach and daily routine. But he was caught off guard by one of the changes. The switch meant he'd spend a lot more time in the dugout, hanging around the hitters. And that meant he'd spend a lot more time considering potential home run celebrations.

Cessa took his time pondering the possibilities. (After all, no one wants to introduce an important new team initiative in September.) He was struck by the appearance of Cincinnati outfielder Jake Fraley, whose full beard and long, blond hair reminded him of a Viking. Surely, he figured, that could be the inspiration for something.

So when the Reds gathered for spring training this year Cessa asked Fraley what he thought, and he was excited to hear that Fraley had recently done an online ancestry check and learned he was partially descended from Norsemen. It was perfect. Cessa and Fraley quickly decided the idea would apply to the whole squad, because a Viking-themed home run celebration is far too cool to be limited to just one player.

Cessa ordered a helmet and cape online. The metal helmet felt like the real deal, heavy and imposing, complete with an elaborate crest and adjoining faceplate. The clubhouse was thrilled, but as the players started playing around with it they realized they needed a different option. The safety-minded among them wondered whether it was unwise to fling heavy metal around their heads in the heady moments after a home run. "It was pretty sick," second baseman Jonathan India says. "But it was real heavy. It could have cut some people in the face."