Have MLB home run celebrations gone too far? Junior Caminero's long run around the bases sparks debate

Major League Baseball is viewed as one of the more traditional sports, along with golf, where an expected standard developed over 150 years of history. But things change over time, and in recent years, there's been a concerted effort to allow players to show more personality, be more demonstrative, and celebrate their success.

Some pitchers now demonstrably react after striking out opposing hitters, to varying degrees. Mets reliever Jefry Yan being the most prominent example. Many hitters are now more willing to wear their emotions on their sleeve, in moments big and small.

How you feel about this can relate to your age, the generation you grew up watching, or willingness to change with the times. But there are celebrations, and then there are celebrations. Monday night, in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series between the Tampa Bay Rays and Cleveland Guardians, we had the latter.

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Needing a win to get to the World Series, the Rays were up 3-1 in the bottom of the seventh inning, facing Cleveland's best reliever, Cade Smith. Caminero came up with a runner at first and nobody out, crushing a line drive to left that hit the foul pole for a two-run homer.

A huge moment for the 23-year-old second-year player that put his team one step closer to a championship. And Caminero enjoyed it. Really, really enjoyed it.

At nearly 39 seconds, it was the second-slowest home run trot in the Statcast tracking era, per MLB.com's Sarah Lang. 39 seconds! To run the bases. And it's not just Caminero.

In game two of the NLCS between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Milwaukee Brewers, catcher William Contreras hit a game-tying home run in the bottom of the fifth and, again, admired it and took an extraordinary amount of time to get around the bases.

Reactions to Caminero's example were, well, mixed, to say the least.

ESPN's Jeff Passan posted the video on X, "This is how you celebrate a home run in a game that could send you to the World Series. Junior Caminero is ready."

Other fans called it a "disgrace," comparing it to how Derek Jeter would celebrate a big homer. One fan wrote, "Junior Caminero is a disgrace to the game of baseball. Imagine someone on the Yankees acting like this in a big playoff game. Imagine playing in the same division as Derek Jeter and acting this classless. Theres an argument that the Rays should bench Caminero. This isnt how you act."

Another had a similar sentiment, calling it a "slap in the face" to baseball.

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