The Philadelphia Phillies were able to take Game 1 of their Wild Card Series against the Miami Marlins on Tuesday. And a big reason why was the impressive performance of Phillies star Nick Castellanos, who celebrated one of his timely hits with a hilarious gesture to his own dugout.
Castellanos went 2-4 on the night at the plate, both doubles that helped result in Phillies runs.
His first double came in the bottom of the fourth inning, moving his teammate J.T. Realmuto over to third base. After reaching second base safely on the play, Castellanos looked over to the Phillies dugout and threw up his ring finger, signaling that the Phillies will at some point get a World Series ring in their postseason run.
Nick Castellanos Celebration Is Well…..Special 😭 #mlb #WildCard #phillies pic.twitter.com/uWcyuPM3Eo
— Core Sports Media (@CoreSportsMedia) October 4, 2023
However, to the naked eye, it looked like he was flipping the bird to his teammates, which fans were wrongfully outraged by on social media.
Unbelievable. My kids are watching this game and because he flipped off everyone they are doing the same thing. I speak for everyone when I say banish the Phillies from the MLB!!
— Alex Matthew (Golf Legend) (@alex_golflegend) October 4, 2023
https://twitter.com/CalicoJoeMLB/status/1709375601126056173
The NIck Castellanos salute pic.twitter.com/jXu9FTOtkn
— Joe Pop (@JoePops_) October 4, 2023
Nick Castellanos really just flipped off his own dugout after hitting a 68 mph blooper double 🖕pic.twitter.com/5Ms8xbqHBn
— The Game Day MLB (@TheGameDayMLB) October 4, 2023
Nick Castellanos
I will always love you 😂😂 pic.twitter.com/YZOglJ9C2E
— Nati Sports (@Nati_Sports) October 4, 2023
Postseason NIck Castellanos has entered the chat pic.twitter.com/hvxO70e0AS
— Alex Carr (@AlexCarrMLB) October 4, 2023
When you look closer at his hand, you can tell that it was indeed his ring finger and not his middle finger. But that wasn’t exactly clear initially. ESPN even made the mistake on their broadcast of the play, as they blurred out Castellanos’ hand assuming that it was his middle finger.
Nick Castellanos' celebration 😂 pic.twitter.com/EGywkvAwbL
— ESPN (@espn) October 4, 2023
Castellanos spoke about the moment after the game, where he indeed confirmed that it was his ring finger and that it was a heat-of-the-moment celebration.
“Well, I mean, it was just something that came out. I didn’t think about it. I mean that’s why we’re here. That’s what the journey is about, to get that ring.”
Nick Castellanos explains the "ring finger" celebration! 💍 pic.twitter.com/xVvN2vq0Gy
— MLB (@MLB) October 4, 2023
Castellanos may want to keep that celebration in his back pocket moving forward, as it is seemingly very easy to misunderstand for many fans.
[ESPN]
