Belts, hats and robes: This isn't a closet, it's postgame celebration bits in Legion baseball

A lightsaber, a robe, wrestling belts and an oversized cowboy hat.

Oh, and don’t forget about the poop emoji cap.

These may sound like items on a middle schooler’s birthday wish list, but they’re also objects being featured in team-wide photos shared over social media by a few local American Legion baseball squads this summer.

So what does everyone think about this postgame picture tradition following wins?

“It’s a good way for everyone to come together as a team and celebrate each other,” Shrewsbury Post 397 pitcher Brady Shea said.

Said Leominster Post 151 outfielder Cam Marshall: “I think it’s really cool and fun. It adds something to every win. It’s different from any other team I’ve been on. I really enjoy it.”

“Overall, it’s just something to work for and something to keep the games fun,” added Hudson Post 100 pitcher/hitter Jason Jakobsons. “It’s a good experience having all the guys trying to make the pictures as odd and as funny as possible.”

A tradition unlike any other (kinda)

If you ask who from around the area started these post-win celebration photos in Legion baseball — Leominster manager Jeff Dedeian and Shrewsbury manager Frank Vaccaro would both say that their programs were first.

Dedeian with Facebook and Instagram, Vaccaro with Twitter.

Facts aside, both managers can agree the tradition of celebrating wins and top performances — with a picture posted on social media — has helped galvanize both programs over the years.

“It’s something fun, something different,” Dedeian said. “Everybody does it now.”

“They just want to play and have fun,” Vaccaro said. “That’s what it’s meant for. It’s meant to have fun.”

In 2021, Hudson Legion joined the postgame picture party by implementing a jersey swap (to honor the Player of the Game) and uploading that photo on Instagram and Twitter.

The following year, that top player was then hoisted on the shoulders of two teammates for a photo op before Post 100 purchased an oversized red cowboy hat this summer as the prize possession gifted to the Player of the Game.

“It’s really just trying to get the kids involved, give them something to look forward to in games,” Hudson manager Ryan Bowen said. “In the past, it was you show up and play baseball, and nobody knows what you’re doing in the summer, and given the rise in social media and what not, it’s exposure for our program. So it’s huge.”

Picture perfect for these baseball teams

Heading into the Zone 4 playoffs — an eight-team, double-elimination tourney that sends the winner to the state tournament — Leominster (11-4-1), Shrewsbury (2-4) and Hudson (10-6) were three of the top-four ranked teams just behind top-seeded Milford (15-1) before they were to begin first-round play on Saturday.

Is it any coincidence that the squads taking time to celebrate top performances after games are the ones that win the most?

“I try not to keep my nose in other teams’ business as much as I can for our own sake,” Bowen said. “I know Leominster does it, Shrewsbury does it, and I know Milford’s social media has stepped up this year. That’s kind of where the idea came from for promoting the program, from seeing other programs do it on social media.

“I think it’s important for us just in terms of our program,” Bowen added. “Legion baseball over the past 10 to 12 years, you can kind of see the numbers dwindling a little bit and baseball in general, and getting attention on the program … I don’t think it hurts.”

So what attention-grabbing items are each program using for their post-victory pics this summer?

Hudson has that oversized red cowboy hat.  Leominster dishes out a WWE wrestling belt (Player of the Game), lightsaber (second-best player from the game) and poop emoji hat, which is given to someone who forgets the number of outs in an inning or trips over a base.

“Not physical errors,” Dedeian said.

“It’s all as jokes and for fun,” Marshall said.

As for Shrewsbury, Post 397 gives out a personalized WWE wrestling belt (Player of the Game), red Ric Flair robe (Pitcher of the Game) and, for the first time this summer, a red fireman helmet (for anyone who hits a home run).

“It’s good because if you’re playing well, you know the guys noticed it and it’s nice to be rewarded daily or weekly. It’s really big for the team momentum,” Post 397’s Shea said. “Taking pictures and giving out awards is a highlight of the night, and we always try to do that as much as possible.”

And for the rest of the summer, the trio of teams hope to continue to post as many pics as possible of them wearing wrestling belts, robes and hats on social media.

It will serve as proof that they’re winning still — and having fun.

“We’re with each other for such a short period of a time, and especially with guys from different schools,” Bowen said. “So it’s cool to see everyone come together like that.”

— Contact Tommy Cassell at tcassell@telegram.com. Follow him on Twitter @tommycassell44. 

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Legion baseball teams post photos to social media to celebrate wins