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

"An absolute disgrace to baseball and everything this great game stands for! I first saw this video when Fry Daddy posted it, and I still can’t believe what I witnessed. Congratulations to both teams—one has a chance to win its first World Series, and that’s awesome. But what he did was an embarrassment, a complete disgrace, and a slap in the face to the game I love."

No other sport has the number of "unwritten" rules that baseball has traditionally had in place. Don't show up the other team being one of them. But the celebrations this postseason raise the question, should those "rules" exist in the first place?

There are two valid sides to it; one says that baseball is about tradition and big celebrations are against the tradition of celebrating like you've been there before. The other is that players showing their personalities and emotions is important to modernize the game and bring in fans who enjoy seeing how much the moment means. Even Shohei Ohtani, who is rarely demonstrative, had a big celebration after hitting a home run in game four of the NLCS.

Cade Smith, the closer who gave up the homer to Caminero, was asked his thoughts about the celebration after the game and had a magnanimous answer, saying, "It's not my style but I guess if I don’t like it, I shouldn’t give up home runs."

Videos of Caminero's home-run, uh, walking trot, exploded on social media, and isn't that what MLB wants? Fans who don't normally see baseball to get the passion and energy and excitement that the postseason brings? On the other hand, though, is that the best example of it?

Though, again, if you're going to celebrate anything, a huge home run to give your team a stronger chance to reach the World Series is probably the time to do it. Caminero and Contreras will have a chance to celebrate in the actual World Series when it starts on Friday. Just imagine if one of them hits a walk-off homer.

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