CLEVELAND, Ohio — The playoffs are right around the corner for the Guardians, and Cleveland hitters hope that means plenty of Mario coins will be ringing in the air at Progressive Field.
For those not familiar, “Mario coins” refer to the classic Nintendo video game featuring everybody’s favorite mustachioed Italian plumber, Mario, and his brother, Luigi. The duo is tasked with rescuing Princess Peach while collecting gold coins to earn points and powers along the way.
But the coins have a deeper meaning for Guardians hitters, starting with the fact that they hear the Mario coin sound played over the public address system whenever a run crosses the plate in their home park. The Guardians have taken things a step further by mimicking the Super Mario Bros. signature jump and punch after a big hit or home run this year.
Super Mario is the inspiration behind Cleveland’s extra-base hit celebration.AP
Why do the Guardians imitate Super Mario?
When a Guardians hitter rounds the bases, he pulls his left fist down and punches his right into the air, imitating the motion Mario uses to punch bricks or boxes in the games in order to collect coins. Cleveland’s hitters have been doing their Mario coin celebration all season. There are no real hard and fast rules about who can do the celebration, or when to break it out, but it generally happens during a home run trot or after an extra-base hit, or one that drives in a run.
Like most team celebrations, players do not like to talk about who first came up with the idea, or how it became a part of the clubhouse culture. When a rookie or new player joins the club, he is given a sort of ‘secret handshake’ rundown of how and when to break out the move during a game.
But Guardians players catch on pretty quick. When Jhonkensy Noel homered in his first major league at-bat on June 26 in Baltimore, he already knew what to do when he rounded second base.
Mario Kart connection
Another connection to the Mario coin celebration is the overwhelming affinity for the Mario Kart game in Cleveland’s clubhouse. Players have access to an arcade-style Mario Kart game console behind a column in the home clubhouse, and it is not uncommon to find multiple players gathered around the machine during downtime in the hours before a game.
The most notorious Mario Kart player on the Guardians roster is six-time All-Star José Ramírez, who takes on all challengers to prove his dominance at the game. Steven Kwan said Ramírez is just as meticulous when it comes to honing his skills at Mario Kart as he is at hitting fastballs.
“Josey has a lot of practice on that, so he kind of dogs everybody,” Kwan told the hosts of the Foul Territory podcast last year. “It’s not very fun playing against him. The guy has it down to a science.”
Gaming influence
Video gaming plays a big role in Cleveland’s clubhouse, which should come as little surprise as the Guardians still sport one of the youngest rosters in the majors. Several players, including Bo Naylor, Andrés Giménez, Kyle Manzardo and Carlos Carrasco are avid gamers with elaborate tech to feed their hobbies. Gaming culture has also appeared other team celebrations, with Josh Naylor imitating Twitch streamer Sketch with his signature “What’s up, brother?” routine throughout the year.
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