A's New Home Run Celebration is Haunting, But It's Working

If you've been watching the A's in action all week, you may have had a sense that this was coming. Back when the A's were facing the New York Yankees, starter Luis Severino had an elephant mask in his hands that was shown on the broadcast, which led to plenty of questions about what the mask is was for.

On Saturday against the Mets, we found out.

Following Tyler Soderstrom's first home run of the year, Lawrence Butler met him at the steps to the dugout and placed a gold chain with an elephant on it around Soderstrom's neck. Then, Severino hit him with the elephant mask to put over his face.

A's new home run celebration is an elephant mask and elephant gold chain. pic.twitter.com/LHPld2DZXM
— Jason Burke (@ByJasonB) April 11, 2026

The guys in the dugout popped for the new celebration, and with good reason. The A's hadn't hit a home run since Sunday, which means that they've been waiting all week to bust this elephant mask out.

In fact, the team likes the home run mask so much that DH Carlos Cortes couldn't wait to wear it himself, bashing a three-run homer of his own four batters later. It was his first home run of the year as well.

Vibes are high for the A's

While some will argue that no games are "big" games this early in the year, the A's have been on a tough stretch to begin the season, facing the World Series runners-up in the Toronto Blue Jays, then an always lethal Atlanta Braves squad on the road.

After a quick three-game homestand against Houston, the A's went back out onto the road to face the New York Yankees and Mets in back-to-back series. All five of these teams are projected to be in postseason contention this season, and four of the five series have been on the road.

For a team that hasn't been to the postseason since 2020, and a group that hasn't played in October together, these games are big. They're also showing that they can go to New York, battle the cold, and win games without the long ball. That says something about this group, and that is part of the reason the vibes are high right now.

It also doesn't hurt that the club has been receiving some solid pitching performances since the opening game of the trip where a late lead was blown, leading to their only loss in New York. Since then, the A's have largely shut out the opposition, running a 26 inning scoreless streak into Saturday's game that included back-to-back shutouts of the Yankees and Mets.

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