Behind the Cleveland Guardians' New Home Run Celebration

Opening Day wasn’t just the mark of a new season for the Cleveland Guardians ; it was also the debut of a new celebration for the team. Chase DeLauter smacked a home run two batters into the game, and after the rookie finished rounding the bases, he walked into the dugout, high-fived his teammates, and then walked up to Austin Hedges, who placed a knight’s helmet on his head. This helmet is officially the Guardians’ home run celebration for the 2026 season.

Although Hedges joked that, “it's just Chase's homer helmet. It's only for Chase because he's the one that hits all the homers. ” Two games into the year, DeLauter has donned the homer helmet three times, while the rest of the team awaits the honor.

Plenty of other teams have had home run celebrations for the last few seasons. Cleveland’s current opponent, the Seattle Mariners, has a trident that a player earns after hitting a homer. In the past, the Washington Nationals have had a powdered wig, and the Milwaukee Brewers have used a cheesehead.

Chase DeLauter, who homered in the first regular season at bat of his career, was the first to debut our "Knight Helmet" celebration. #GuardsBall pic. twitter.