Philadelphia Phillies star outfielder Nick Castellanos will perhaps always be tied to former Cincinnati Reds broadcaster Thom Brennaman after famously hitting a home run in the middle of his on-air apology for a homophobic slur. And on Sunday, Castellanos was once again linked to Brennaman, along with current U.S. President Joe Biden.
It has become a running joke amongst the baseball landscape that Castellanos simply finds a way to trump big news stories by hitting home runs. And on Sunday, we certainly received quite the news dump when Biden decided to end his bid for reelection.
We also learned on Sunday that Thom Brennaman would be returning to national broadcasting following his dismissal from Fox Sports in 2020. The former Red broadcaster will be calling college football games this coming fall for The CW.
Given Castellanos’ lengthy resume of overshadowing big news stories, it’s perhaps no surprise that he had an excellent game with multiple extra-base hits on Sunday against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
His first at-bat after Biden announced his intention to drop out of the presidential race, Castellanos nearly left the yard, instead lacing a double into deep center field.
Not a homer, but Castellanos hits a long double his next at-bat after Biden announced he’s dropping out.
Probably a homer in swing states. pic.twitter.com/ZNt8G97iuX
— Michael Schwab (@michaelschwab13) July 21, 2024
In his last at-bat of the game, Castellanos then fulfilled the prophecy with a home run in the top of the ninth inning off of Pirates reliever Josh Fleming.
2 outs in the 9th… Nick Castellanos came through. pic.twitter.com/qQVQ4r1OrG https://t.co/cMUMaklYzZ
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) July 21, 2024
As you may expect, there was quite a reaction to Castellanos’ big blast given the circumstances.
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.pic.twitter.com/XkcNJBoNOP
— Josh Reynolds (@JoshReynolds24) July 21, 2024
A new pope has white smoke. A new national insanity has Nick Castellanos. pic.twitter.com/fhgvgAoaum
— Benjamin Solak (@BenjaminSolak) July 21, 2024
Nick Castellanos really hit a home run on the same day Joe Biden quit the race.
Of course he did. pic.twitter.com/nvoqi0cjGt
— Deadspin (@Deadspin) July 21, 2024
Nick Castellanos is an American icon. It’s unbelievable. pic.twitter.com/2Jz0XWOl4V
— Steven Karr (@SKarrG0) July 21, 2024
Funny enough, this home run from Castellanos didn’t catch all that many by surprise in terms of the betting markets. Countless bettors were quite aware of the Phillies slugger’s propensity to come up big whenever significant breaking news emerges, cashing in on home run prop bets.
Simply put, it is truly an anomaly how well Castellanos hits whenever there is big news that emerges. And his performance on Sunday only adds to the growing legend that he has become in the eyes of the majority of baseball fans.
