It has been an eventful 24-48 hours from Atlanta Braves star Ronald Acuna Jr.
He is playing in the Venezuelan Winter League’s (Liga Venezolana de Beisbol Profesional, or LVBP) final series with his hometown team, Tiburones de La Guaira.
After losing Game 1 on Monday and hearing every kind of bad word from rival fans (Leones del Caracas), Acuna had a chance for vindication in Game 2, on Tuesday.
On a 3-0 count and with his team up 4-3, Acuna hunted a fastball and sent it straight to center field for a solo home run.
The home run celebration was epic.
“Ronald Acuña Jr. with one of the most electric home run celebrations of all-time. From start to finish. It just keeps going. Unreal,” MLB analyst Jared Carrabis tweeted.
Ronald Acuña Jr. with one of the most electric home run celebrations of all-time. From start to finish. It just keeps going. Unreal. pic.twitter.com/FcDpeVbzYH
— Jared Carrabis (@Jared_Carrabis) January 25, 2023
From the moment the ball came off his bat, Acuna did the following: he stood at home plate admiring the drive for a few seconds, pumped his chest, put his hands on his ears (trying to “hear” the crowd speak now), did the “silencer”, put his “sword” back, ran the bases, and danced a bit before touching home plate.
Wow.
It was a legendary celebration.
Naturally, he received a lot of criticism by people who refuse to have fun and accept a new reality: baseball players are not robots and deserve to enjoy their celebrations.
After the game, which resulted in another Caracas victory after coming from behind, there were altercations between Acuna’s family and some fans that resulted in the player giving up on his team through social media.
His status for the rest of the final is up in the air.
It’s too bad that violence took over, once again, in the game we love.
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