The debate over baseball’s unwritten rules and the proper etiquette for celebrating is basically a common occurrence across all levels of the sport. And that debate was reignited over the weekend thanks to a viral video from NAIA’s Sooner Athletic Conference baseball tournament.
In a Twitter video, we saw a player hit a home run, watch the flight of the ball, turn to his dugout, point at his teammates all before unleashing an overhand bat throw and stomping on the plate as he finished his trot. It was a spectacular celebration by the player, Wayland Baptist’s Gregory Ozuna, but it predictably had some baseball fans upset.
Context, though, is extremely important.
This makes me sad! We haven’t taught this generation how to behave on a baseball field. This is what we get. “Let the kids play” isn’t the message we should be sending obviously. #shegone @notgaetti @BobFile @twuench @RickWrona @GDBJr5 pic.twitter.com/qRye9RAcZF
— Jeff frye/ #shegone (@O3jfrye) May 9, 2021
While a viral tweet piled on Ozuna for his showmanship, it ignored why Ozuna was so excited about the home run.
In this game, Wayland Baptist was trailing No. 21 Oklahoma City University by eight runs at one point on Saturday. But Wayland Baptist would chip away at that lead, and Ozuna’s home run in the ninth inning — his first homer since March — gave WBU its first lead of the game and ultimately sent WBU to the conference final.
So, yeah, Ozuna had every right to be pumped. He hit a huge home run in a crucial moment in what already was an emotional, high-stakes game. This wasn’t a solo shot with the team down four runs — it was the biggest home run of his team’s season. His team’s season was on the line.
WBU would end up losing in Sunday’s final round, but that celebration was absolutely warranted.
Thank you to all the people supporting me and for keeping my head up. My season is done because we got eliminate. God bless you all and I’m thankful forever 🙏🏾❤️ pic.twitter.com/0d8hqL2uFh
— Gregory Ozuna 𓅓 (@KingOzunaV) May 10, 2021
