Game 4 of the 2022 ALDS will be remembered for Josh Naylor’s baby-rocking home run celebration. The crowd at Progressive Field was amused to see the Cleveland Guardians’ DH waving his arms around as if he were rocking a baby as he went around the bases.
The Guardians’ designated hitter hit a solo home run to right center field off Gerrit Cole in the fourth inning cutting the Yankees’ lead to 3-2.
Josh Naylor called himself Gerrit Cole’s dad as he ran the bases after hitting a home run in Game 4 against the Yankees’ best pitcher.
As Naylor went around first base, he did a “rock-the-baby” gesture to celebrate. As he went around third base, he did the same thing again and yelled “That’s my little f—ing son” to the Guardians’ bench.
Josh Naylor’s Guardians lost the game 4-2 to the New York Yankees in Game 4 of the American League Division Series in Sunday’s ALDS game.
Check out the moving picture of Naylor’s home run and celebration:
Triston McKenzie, a teammate of Naylor’s, said that Naylor’s way of showing affection for pitchers he beats up is to call them “son.” But it sounded like Naylor said some bad words between calling Gerrit Cole his “son.”
Cole seemed uninterested and maybe even amused after the game, which was good of him. During his press conference, he reacted, “Yeah, whatever. It’s cute, but I didn’t see it at the time; it wouldn’t have been a big deal at the time, and it’s kind of funny now.”
Cole, on the other hand, had bigger and better things to say about his night. In an elimination game, he gave the Yankees a great start. He threw seven innings and gave up just two runs on six hits and a walk. Cole got eight outs before leaving the game and letting the Yankees bullpen take over.
On Monday night at Yankee Stadium, the Yankees and Guardians will play the last game of their best-of-five ALDS. The winner will move on to the AL Championship Series and play the Houston Astros in a best-of-seven series for the pennant. The series winner will then move on to the World Series.
Prior to Game 4, Naylor had a batting average of 4-for-16 in three games. Against Cole, the player has a home run and a record of 1-for-9 in the regular season of their career matchups. During the regular season, the 25-year-old had a batting average of .256 along with 20 home runs and 79 RBIs.
Was the reaction of Naylor correct? Don’t you think it is against the spirit of baseball?
