Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Nick Castellanos has developed an unexplainable knack for hitting home runs around the same time as controversial and newsworthy events.
In the ninth inning of Sunday’s game between the Phillies and Pittsburgh Pirates , Castellanos unloaded on a 1-2 curveball, sending the pitch several rows back in left field to extend Philadelphia’s lead, 6-0. Several hours before his 409-foot homer, President Joe Biden announced on X that he would be pulling out of the presidential race and not seek re-election.
This is hardly the first time that Castellanos has gone yard during a significant or inopportune moment. The ongoing joke first grew legs on August 19, 2020 when the slugger blasted a home run moments after Cincinnati Reds announcer Thom Brennaman was caught on a hot mic uttering a homophobic slur.
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While addressing the mistake on-air, Brennaman was forced to break away from his apology and report on Castellanos’ long ball. “I pride myself and think of myself as a man of faith - as there’s a drive into deep left field by Castellanos, it will be a home run. And so that will make it a 4–0 ballgame. - I don’t know if I’m gonna be putting on this headset again,” he said in the now-viral clip.
Less than one year later, Castellanos hit another poorly-timed home run while the Kansas City Royals broadcast booth attempted to honor the late George A. Gorman, a World War II veteran and father of a Royals equipment manager. As cameras focused on Castellanos rounding the bases, play-by-play announcer Ryan Lefebvre addressed the awkward situation, stating: “There’s never a great time to eulogize someone during the broadcast, so we apologize for the timing.”
Since then, Castellanos has additionally hit a walk-off double less than one hour after news of baseball legend Willie Mays’ passing broke, and also hit a homer on the same day of the recent assassination attempt on former president Donald Trump.
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One person even went so far as to edit a clip to make it seem like Castellanos hit a long ball shortly after a broadcast played a pregame moment of silence for Queen Elizabeth II, though this did not in fact happen.
Regardless, fans online quickly flocked to social media to express their disbelief regarding Castellanos’ uncanny timing following his latest home run on the heels of Biden’s announcement.
“All jokes aside, this has to be studied… Nick Castellanos going deep every single time there is a tragedy or something newsworthy is legitimately unlike anything I’ve ever seen in sports history. There can’t be any type of logical explanation. No words,” one X user wrote.
Another added: “I’m convinced that if a black hole was swallowing Earth, there would still be enough time for Nick Castellanos to hit a Home Run.”
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