Skip to main content
Larry Brown Sports Tagline. Brown Bag it, Baby.
#pounditThursday, March 28, 2024

Braves’ ‘big hat’ home run celebration stopped by MLB

Braves big hat

Apr 14, 2023; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Atlanta Braves catcher Sean Murphy (12) is congratulated in the dugout after hitting a solo home run against the Kansas City Royals in the fifth inning at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

The Atlanta Braves’ viral “big hat” home run celebration is no more thanks to Major League Baseball and one of its sponsors.

Braves players recently began using an oversized “homer hat” to celebrate home runs, a move that the team had wholly embraced. The Braves had made it a point to share images of the celebration on social media.

The homer hat had disappeared, however, in recent games. The hat was provided to Atlanta players by More than Sports, a local memorabilia collector. The owner tweeted this week that the hat was no more, because cap company New Era had “shut it down.”

The Braves confirmed to Alison Mastrangelo of WSB-TV that New Era, which is MLB’s official on-field cap partner, spoke to the league about shutting down the celebration since the hat was not produced by New Era. MLB passed that message along to the Braves, who have stopped using it.

Obviously, MLB has to respect its corporate deals, but this just makes New Era look petty. Plus, there is no reason they could not have found a way to manufacture a big hat that would abide with guidelines. That still would be a pretty unfair deal for the originator of the hat, but it’s still better than nothing.

The Braves have yet to debut a new home run celebration. Clearly, they’ll have to make like the Baltimore Orioles and come up with something that won’t run afoul of any merchandising agreements.

.

Subscribe and Listen to the Podcast!

Sports News Minute Podcast
comments powered by Disqus