When Reds pitcher Luis Cessa moved from the Reds’ bullpen to their rotation last August, he understood his job was changing, with a new strategy and approach and routine. But he was caught off guard by one of the byproducts. The switch meant he was about to spend a lot more time in the dugout. And that meant he was about to spend a lot more time considering potential home-run celebrations.
Cessa took his time. (After all: No one wants to introduce something new in September.) He was particularly struck by Reds first baseman Jake Fraley, whose full beard and long, blond hair reminded him of a Viking. Surely, he figured, that could be the inspiration for something cool.
At the beginning of spring training, Cessa asked Fraley what he thought, and he was excited to hear the idea was even more fitting than he’d guessed: Fraley had recently done an online ancestry service and learned he was partially descended from Norsemen. It was perfect. And while it was inspired by one player, Cessa and Fraley quickly decided it would apply to the whole squad, because a Viking-themed home-run celebration was far too cool to be limited to just Fraley.
