Did Dodgers’ 2014 bubble machine kickstart MLB’S prop-fueled celebrations?
ANAHEIM, Calif. — In the beginning, there was a bubble machine.
In the bygone days of 2014, Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp promised to throw a “foam party” — people did those things back then — if the team won the World Series. Spoiler alert — they didn’t.
But along the way to finding that out, a bubble machine became part of the Dodgers’ dugout equipment. Home runs were celebrated with a mini-foam party — until Joe Torre, then MLB’S chief baseball officer, burst the Dodgers’ bubbles. They moved the machine into the clubhouse for post-win celebrations.
It all seems so primitive now.
Prop-propelled home run celebrations have proliferated across the majors this season. The Angels celebrate home runs by donning a samurai “kabuto” helmet supplied by Shohei Ohtani. The Seattle Mariners hail their slugging heroes by handing them a trident. The Chicago White Sox cloak their sluggers in a “Chicago mobster-style” jacket and hat. The Nationals get historical, breaking out American flags and powdered wigs for their — admittedly infrequent — celebrations.
The Minnesota Twins stay local, donning a fishing vest and grabbing a reel. The Detroit Tigers tip their caps to Hockeytown, donning a helmet and breaking out a stick to shoot at a miniature goal in the dugout. The Baltimore Orioles drink from something called a “Homer Hose.”
And it goes on — a Viking helmet in Cincinnati (for some reason), a cheesehead in Milwaukee (of course), a gladiator helmet in Kansas City (are you not entertained?).
Everybody seems to have something these days.
“It’s just celebrating your team and being goofy,” Dodgers rookie outfielder James Outman said.
Such goofiness might offend the old-school sensibilities of some. This is baseball, after all, where unwritten rules and the like have held sway for decades.
“I don’t think I was a big fan of the bubble machine,” Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw said. “I’m not saying you can’t celebrate or enjoy it. I’m not going to be the ‘Fun Police.’ But I think there’s a point where it goes too far and the bubble machine was probably there.”
This year’s Dodgers haven’t gone there — yet.
“We talked about getting a prop,” Dodgers catcher Will Smith said. “There were a lot of ideas. Nothing clicked with enough of the guys.”
Freddie Freeman acknowledges he is “an old school-ish guy.” But he donned a panda head when Pablo Sandoval brought it to the Atlanta Braves a few years ago and swashbuckled with the swords Guillermo Heredia made a thing during their World Series championship season in 2021 — though he avoided the pearl necklaces that Joc Pederson made popular that same year.
“It’s a younger game,” Freeman said by way of explanation. “They’re trying to connect more with the fans. That’s why there’s so much more social media.”
Kershaw accepts that MLB has gotten younger around him but then slips into grumpy dad mode.
“Well, that’s a fact (that the game has gotten younger),” he said. “Why are younger people like that? I have no idea.”
Outman offers a theory for the current explosion of dugout choreography.
“You saw a lot of this in college baseball like five or six years ago and a lot of those guys are getting to the big leagues now and bringing it with them,” he said.
Kershaw doesn’t like the sound of that, cringing at college baseball’s rampant theatrics.
“There’s no way I could handle going to college,” he said. “Some of the antics going on? Like some of the things after a strikeout in the second inning, guys are fist-pumping and staring people down? They need to clean it up. It’s ridiculous. I appreciate the passion. They want to win. I respect that. But, dang — when you start basically disrespecting the other team with what you’re doing, that’s too much. Some of the staredowns these pitchers are doing, that’s insane to me.
“I don’t really mind the dugout celebrations. I really don’t. But if it was up to me — I appreciate a good high-five.”
A high-five? Today’s players have so much more to do with their hands. The Dodgers have a series of hand signals that hitters flash toward their teammates in the dugout after reaching base.
“There are celebrations you do that you don’t even know what they mean,” Outman said of young players just trying to fit in.
Dodgers hitters have the “Barrels are overrated” signal — shaking the hands in front of your torso as if stung by bees — that pops up after bleeders and flares that fall in. Utility man Chris Taylor is credited with starting that one a handful of years ago.
And there is the “Train” signal — pumping your arm as if triggering a train whistle. That is outfielder David Peralta’s contribution, having been dubbed years ago as “a freight train” for the energy he brings to the field.
“I hit one of our first doubles this year and did the train thing that DP does,” Smith said. “It just kind of caught on with the guys.”
It’s not totally organic, though. There is thought and discussion behind all of this.
“That’s when these things come up, in the hitters’ meetings,” Freeman said.
Which brings us to the other hand signal Dodgers hitters are flashing to the dugout this season. It’s a two-handed motion that looks as if the player is pulling open curtains. Ask any Dodgers player what it means and they profess ignorance of its meaning, origin or progenitor — a sure sign that its meaning is NSFW and not something you want your Little Leaguer imitating.
The idea of all this is just to “keep things fun, keep things loose” over a long season, Taylor said.
“I’ve noticed in highlights around the league,” Taylor said of the proliferation of props and choreography in celebrations. “It’s fine. That’s kind of the direction the game is headed. I think it keeps fans engaged and that’s what you want. It’s not doing anyone any harm.”