SI

Jesse Winker Celebrated July 4th by Wearing Patriotic Suit After Clutch Homer

No better way to celebrate July 4 than by hitting dingers and wearing stars and stripes.

Josh Wilson

Jesse Winker celebrates July 4 in style
Jesse Winker celebrates July 4 in style /
In this story:

To celebrate July 4, baseball in the nation's capital started early. An 11:05 a.m. ET start time between the New York Mets and Washington Nationals meant that Jesse Winker had time to clobber a clutch home run, throw on his most patriotic outfit and clock out of work all before 2 p.m.

Not a bad way to spend the day when you're scheduled to work on a holiday.

Winker came in as a pinch hitter in the eighth inning, with the Nationals—and the 0-0 game—in need of some offensive firepower. He provided, hitting a home run to right field.

He saw two pitches: The first a curveball down and in. The second, also a curveball from pitcher Adrian Houser, which Winker took yard. After he got to the dugout, he tossed on a stars and stripes suit and top hat, never to take it off. Winker stayed in the game, but was slotted as the designated hitter, so he didn't have to take the field.

Only thing better would have been if Winker had a hot dog waiting for him in the dugout.

Winker's homer would be the only run of the afternoon, with Washington winning 1–0. The Mets were held to just one hit; the Nationals collected five.

Published
Josh Wilson

JOSH WILSON

Josh Wilson is the News Director of the Breaking & Trending News Team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining the SI team in 2024, Josh worked for FanSided in a variety of roles, most recently as Senior Managing Editor of the brand’s flagship site. He has also served as a general manager of Sportscasting, the sports arm of a startup sports media company, where he oversaw the site’s editorial and business strategy. Josh has a Bachelor’s degree in mass communications from the State University of New York at Cortland and a Master’s degree in accountancy from the Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois. Josh loves a good nonfiction book and enjoys learning and practicing Polish. He lives in Chicago but was raised in Upstate NY. He spent most of his life in the Northeast and briefly lived in Poland where he ate an unhealthy amount of pastries for six months.

Home/MLB