In professional baseball, there is a very public ritual of champagne showers when a team clinches a birth into the postseason. We then will see these type of celebrations repeated as teams move on in the playoffs, and ultimately, the World Series…
These celebrations are well documented and play out in all of their glory right in front of millions of fans…
What fans in the stands and at home will not see are the small celebrations that take place on a daily basis throughout the course of the off season, Spring Training and the regular season…
It’s these celebrations that are reserved for the small victories that take place within the daily process.
Often times, the small celebrations are comprised of organic praise of a team or individual accomplishment. Simple handshakes, hugs or possibly even just a verbal “nice f*cking work” delivers the positive feedback that lets our teammates and ourselves know that diligent, successful work will be recognized…
The interesting thing is that, oftentimes, these victories are not even accomplished on the field… These battles are won in the gym, batting cage, bullpen sessions and while executing defensive drills.
When one of these small victories occur during an actual game, it may even be celebrated with a beer shower, which I’ve seen happen for a dude’s first hit in the big leagues, a pitcher coming through with a high leverage save, and there isn’t much better than dousing a defender with a Sierra Nevada after a game saving play.
Typically, there isn’t specific rhyme or reason to the beer shower other than to recognize small feats that generally are under appreciated; yet oftentimes, lead to GIGANTIC results…
So before we have a chance to pop magnums of Dom, let’s make sure we celebrate the process by spraying a few Dominican Presidentes and shotgunning some Natty Lights every now and again.
Cheers 🍺
-EB