Coach Doesn’t Dig the Long Ball….Celebration

When the Blue Jays traded Hernandez and Gurriel Jr. away, the first thought went to the Barrio and all the good times they had during the year. The next thought went to the returns in the trades, then the excitement for what these new players would bring to the team, but the Barrio vibe was a real concern.

Fast forward to this season and the symbol that brought the international Barrio together, is retired. The Home Run Jacket is gone for good.

The decision was made by the players and the manager, fairly or unfairly, has become the face of the decision. “It’s a fine line between silly and fun. There’s something to be said about acting like you’ve been there,” was the line spoken by manager John Schneider. While this quote wasn’t directly about the Home Run Jacket, it was about the attitude of a team that got swept out of the playoffs last season. For the fans, this was about the Home Run Jacket. The jacket was a symbol that brought the whole team together. It made one home run as meaningful as the next. Regardless of who hit how many home runs, they got to wear the jacket. On special occasions, even pitchers got to wear the jacket.

There are plenty of homerun celebrations across the league. Lots of oversized chains, a hat and laundry baskets were used in the different celebrations during the year. The Home Run Jacket stood out. It made Canada’s team unique among the crowd and it was well thought out by those who brought it to life. It felt right.

And now it’s gone. Let’s get back to the quotes.

“You’ve got to have fun. It’s a long season and it’s a game. As long as you’re prepared and attentive, then winning becomes fun,” Schneider said. Winning is fun and I myself have said “winning solves a lot of things. My real problem is the way this is being messaged. The use of the word “silly” makes it sound like the players are childish. “Prepared and attentive” is rounded out by the phrase “winning becomes fun” like fun is limited to just winning. The symbol fans loved is being taken away and replaced with corpo speak.

As a fan of the Colorado Avalanche, I felt like the team was business-like on their run to last year’s cup victory. I get it, there is a level of seriousness that needs to exist, but you can’t tell me the Home Run Jacket needs to be taken away. The players may have driven this decision, but the manager has taken that decision and applied corporate messaging to the change. I’ve been a corporate drone for 17 years, I know corpo speak when I hear it. It doesn’t feel right.

Now, let’s give everyone the benefit of the doubt. All the players want to make this change. The manager is doing his best to be the face of a change. Maybe the messaging could be a little different, but he means well and wants to help the players get to where they want to go; a parade we can all attend.

However, if the team takes this new attitude and doesn’t win, I want a second opinion on where the Home Run Jacket was taking away the ability of the team to win. I don’t want the last game of the season to be a loss and Tony La Russa sitting in a dugout nodding his head in approval that the Home Run Jacket never saw the light of day. I’m willing to spend millions of luxury tax dollars to win, I’m not willing to sell my soul to corpo speak in the form of the jacket that made my team stand out amongst the crowd.