Toronto Blue Jays designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion hammered three home runs to help his team dominate the Detroit Tigers with a 15-1 victory on Saturday, and he was handsomely rewarded with hats.
Following his seventh inning grand slam, dozens of Toronto fans threw their baseball caps onto the field as a sign of respect for Encarnacion's offensive prowess. This tradition, of course, stems from the hockey custom of saluting a player for scoring three goals, which is best known as a hat trick.
According to VICE, this sudden influx of hats resulted in a game delay of several minutes as Rogers Centre staff rushed to clean the field. The joyous moment also struck a chord with Blue Jays reliever Mark Lowe, who told Sportsnet this "hat trick" ode was the coolest thing he had ever seen at a ball game. Naturally, it's a career highlight for Encarnacion as well.
“(Dioner) Navarro told me . . . when they score three goals they do that,” he said about the "hat trick," in a post-game interview cited in the Toronto Star. “I’m maybe going to sign them and give them back to the owners.”
The 32-year-old athlete also posed with his new hat collection on Instagram and thanked the fans, writing:
The Toronto Blue Jays are currently in first place in the American League East division, and Encarnacion is on a 24-game hit streak. In addition to his three home runs, he also brought in nine RBIs which tied a franchise record.
Way to go, "Edwing!"