Cardinals players shed light on recent home run celebration controversy

During the St. Louis Cardinals' game against the Atlanta Braves, the Cardinals' home run celebration began to garner some social media popularity. Players like Lars Nootbaar and Alec Burleson were seen rounding the bases holding one hand up to their ear and the other in the air in a fist. Fans immediately jumped to conclusions, and national outlets like Jomboy Media even joined in on the rampant conjecture.

People began speculating that the Cardinals' players were mimicking former president Donald Trump. Following an attempted assassination on July 13th, Trump was seen holding up his right arm with a fist while shouting the word "fight" repeatedly. The gesture by the players was somewhat similar to the one of the former president on that day.

Due to the similarities and online dialogue, beat reporters for various outlets asked players of the team about the celebration. Comparisons between the celebrations of Lars Nootbaar and Alec Burleson and Trump's iconic photograph were vehemently denied. Matt Carpenter was foremost of those deniers.

"It's an inside joke with (Burleson). Definitely not a political statement. I think that's a little off-base here."

Matt Carpenter

Carpenter went on to say that the celebration is aimed at mimicking a disk jockey, a DJ. Alec Burleson, the team's resident bopper and fun guy, was formerly a rapper in college; Burly went by the alias "Biscuit" when taking on this persona. In fact, this celebration pre-dates the assassination attempt by weeks.

The fervent denial by one of the club's veteran players lends credence to the fact that the team's latest celebration is in no way a political message. Instead, it's a light-hearted reference to the team's best offensive player's history. As is the case with most team celebrations, it begins as an inside joke and then grows to become more common knowledge once reporters ask questions of players.

This isn't the first time fans online connected the Cardinals with Donald Trump. Earlier this year, Cardinals' ace Sonny Gray wore a nondescript red hat with the number "45" on it; local fans believed it to be a "Make America Great Again" hat, one that is commonplace at rallies for Donald Trump. Instead, the hat was simply an homage to the great Bob Gibson.

The online theorizing regarding the Cardinals' latest celebration turned out to be a hoax after all. Instead, the players are keeping things light and fun during the long season. Let Biscuits mash!