Petey Halpin’s first major league home run came with a celebration nobody in Cleveland is likely to forget.
After the Guardians outfielder launched a two-run shot in the second inning Monday night, he rounded the bases, reached the dugout steps and slapped hitting coach Grant Fink right in the face. The cameras caught it.
The replays caught it. And once the story behind it surfaced, the moment turned from strange to perfect.
The whole thing started about a month earlier, when Halpin made a bet with Fink. According to beat reporters Paul Hoynes and Joe Noga on the Cleveland Baseball Talk Podcast, Fink had a habit of slapping Halpin in the face before games, and Halpin told him he would return the favor when he hit his first big league homer.
“This was choreographed,” Hoynes said on the podcast. “We were talking to Halpin before Tuesday’s game and he said that Fink always slaps him in the face before every game.
I guess maybe it wakes him up, gets him riled up or gets him fired up for the game. And he said about a month ago, he said, ‘When I hit my first big league home run, I’m going to slap you in the face.’
And Fink was all for it. He goes, ‘I’m looking forward to it.
Do it, do it.’”
When the ball left the yard Monday, the plan was already in motion. Hoynes said Halpin was looking toward the Cleveland dugout as he came around the bases, and Fink knew exactly what was coming. He even turned his cap backward like a catcher preparing for a play at the plate.
Then Halpin followed through.
It was the kind of celebration that won’t show up in the box score, but it said plenty about the group in that clubhouse. Noga pointed out that it was the sort of detail that could easily have been missed if nobody caught the replay.
“These are those little behind-the-scenes moments where, you know, if we hadn’t noticed it on the replay, it might have gone unspoken,” Noga said.
The best part? Halpin didn’t make it a two-for-one deal. He homered again later in the game - part of the historic seven-homer night - but the slap was a one-time only arrangement.
“There’s only a one-time slap bet,” Noga said with a laugh.
Noga also noted that Halpin doesn’t exactly look like the kind of player who would be handing out face slaps in the middle of a game. He described the outfielder as a low-key Northern California kid with a chill vibe, which only made the whole scene more entertaining.
Fink didn’t back away. He turned his hat around, stuck his chin out and took it.
That’s the kind of moment that makes a team feel loose, connected and flat-out fun to watch. Hoynes said it was one of the most unusual first-home-run celebrations he could remember.
“Yeah, that is right up there. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like that before,” Hoynes said.
The full story of the Halpin-Fink slap bet came out on the Cleveland Baseball Talk Podcast, along with more from the Guardians’ 5-2 win over the Twins.
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