Origin of Phillies' Legendary Base Hit Celebration That's Gone Viral

The Philadelphia Phillies have had some iconic moments when they perform in an important situation. But this team has a particular celebration that has gone viral during the 2023 season.

What the Philadelphia Phillies do when they get on base and gesture towards the dugout is exactly what it looks like.

They're cradling something and it doesn't take a major investigation to figure what that is.

The Phillies started off with a different celebration to start the season, but got over that quickly when they started playing poorly.

They moved onto something else and that has stuck for the rest of the year.

So, what's the origin behind the now infamous gesture?

According to Todd Zolecki of MLB.com, it was discussed on the golf course between Garrett Stubbs, J.T. Realmuto, Kyle Schwarber and Trea Turner.

"It was just funny. We really weren’t trying to say anything. It was really just like, ‘Yeah, we think it’d be funny if we did this after hits,'" Stubbs said.

Being funny and it catching on within the Philadelphia locker room is another thing.

The base hit celebration didn't stick until left hander Christopher Sanchez was crying laughing because he thought it was so funny. Role player Cristian Pache said he would do the gesture the next time he hit a homer which he delivered on.

According to that group of four, they didn't rip off that celebration from the movie Major League II.

"It didn’t come directly from a movie," Stubbs said.

But the similarities are so obvious that their superstar shortstop used it as a way to explain the gesture to his wife. 

"She didn’t understand it. I actually had to show her a YouTube clip of like five minutes of the movie," Turner said.

And it's not just the players who have gotten into it. The fans are fully embracing the gesture as well.

Schwarber said, "It’s awesome. It’s great, you know what I mean? They’re with us."

The legendary gesture has brought the team closer together according to Turner. They have used the long season to find funny moments where they can create inside jokes to bond.

Now, the Phillies are hoping they can gesture their way to the franchise's first World Series title since 2008.