Why baseball teams party so hard and so often in October

Toward the end of every regular season, if it’s been a good one, the Boston Red Sox will receive a special package from one of their kit suppliers: 100 pairs of goggles.

It’s an unusual gift for a baseball team, but each playoff round brings another shipment of 100 more pairs of eyewear until they reach the World Series .

The reason? Champagne sprayed at point-blank range at high velocity into the face will sting your eyes, and baseball players tend to do a lot of that when they’re winning.

Every major US sport has multi-round postseason schedules, but none of them party like MLB teams. Locker room celebrations in the NFL tend to be subdued until the Super Bowl, and since hockey players are famously superstitious, popping bottles early is practically verboten in the NHL; the Stanley Cup is all that really matters.

Clubhouse manager Tom McLaughlin has spent over 40 years with the Red Sox, and he says he’s lost track of how many celebrations he’s been involved in, but he counts them in the dozens. He told CNN Sports it was “pretty tame” when he started in the ‘80s, when the postseason was much shorter, but the back end of the season now can feel like one enormous bender for the most successful teams.

Clinched a playoff spot? Party.

Successfully navigate the wildcard round? Let’s get wild.

Made it through the Divisional Round? Get another round in.

Won the Championship Series? We’re going on a spree.

By the time a baseball club wins the World Series , let’s just say that the celebration will not be their first rodeo. Everyone will have had plenty of practice.

Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos/Getty Images

One of McLaughlin’s jobs is to procure the booze. Another is to try and keep the bubbly off everybody’s personal belongings, the furniture, TVs and audio equipment. Look closely at any video footage in the aftermath of a clinching victory and you’ll see protective plastic sheeting everywhere. It resembles the “kill room” in the TV show “Dexter.”

It takes two hours to get all the safeguarding stuff in place, and if it looks like things are going sideways on the diamond, the staff will be waiting, mid-ladder, for the call to rip all the plastic down.

For a series win, such protection is essential.

“That first hour is intense,” McLaughlin told CNN Sports. “It’s crazy.”

Expensive bottles of Moët & Chandon or Dom Pérignon are revved up in the revelry and everyone and everything gets soaked.

“It’s very wet. It’s sticky. If you have like a paper cut or a scrape, it’s getting in there,” explained former slugger Curtis Granderson to CNN.

“It turns into like a playful water gun fight. Everybody gets their ammunition with their bottle of champagne, and then you’re shaking it up to make it just amped up, ready to go. And whether you’re spraying it to hit the ceiling, hit a couch, hit a teammate, hit a reporter, do it to yourself. Everything is a target within the locker room.”

Targeting somebody for a soaking is a sign of respect. After playing a key role in the Cleveland Guardians’ Wild Card series comeback against the Chicago White Sox, Steven Kwan was barely able to speak with a reporter in the clubhouse.

“I mean, no! God, no!” he gasped as suds were poured all over his head. “It’s so cold! I feel like I’m being targeted right now. I’m in the ring. I’m trying to survive, but this is a ton of fun.”

Jared Wickerham/MLB Photos/Getty Images

Granderson recalled that of the 12 to 15 clubhouse celebrations he was involved in, he doesn’t remember drinking any of the champagne.

“I think I was mostly spraying it,” he said. “It was around my face and mouth, so I tasted it. I didn’t actually pour it up and drink it though.”

Granderson says he treasures some of the goggles from those celebrations in his trophy cabinet, but others prefer to engage all five of their senses during the celebration.

“A teammate of mine, Michael Cuddyer, he was the one saying you got to ‘earn the burn,’” explained Granderson. “He would always go with no goggles because he loved the fact that it burned his eyes. Because, to get a chance to do that meant you were doing something well.”

Sometimes, it’s not just the booze.

McLaughlin says he remembers the New York Yankees celebrating a series victory at Fenway in the ‘90s and food, milk and yogurt were thrown around. They even dragged the hose out of the shower for good measure.

“The Yankees of the ‘90s did not get cheated when they had fun,” he said, acknowledging the scale of the mess they had to clean up between the end of the party and sunrise.

“If you were in a hotel lobby, it would be a lot different,” he laughed. “I’m sure the police would be involved.”

Every year, as the postseason approaches, a carpet-cleaning company in Boston knows to stand by; if a series is clinched, they’ll be called in for a shampooing assignment at 2 a.m.

The clubhouse managers try to protect as much of the property as possible, but there is only so much they can do.

“No matter how much you clean it, it smells horrible for days,” McLaughlin said, adding that the ceiling tiles turn brown, almost black, and must be replaced.

So why does baseball find these celebrations so irresistible? McLaughlin ponders the question: “I don’t know where it came from, I really don’t, I wish I had the magic answer.”

He begins thinking out loud, recalling the players and teams that he’s seen redecorate his clubhouse so enthusiastically over the years.

Eventually he settles on the idea that success can be so fleeting, “You could be a player that came up and only had an impact in one game – you might never be in the Major Leagues again. So, I think when you have the opportunity to celebrate, to appreciate where you’re at, why not?”

Michael Urakami/MLB Photos/Getty Images

Baseball is a high-pressure psychological game where the difference between success and failure is razor-thin, and the players are trained to keep their emotions in check. Teams are tight-knit, spending practically every moment together from Spring Training through October in what can be described as a 162-game marathon.

So perhaps it makes sense to view a party after clinching a pennant or a place in the postseason as more of a release of all the pent-up stress, a relief that the season wasn’t in vain.

Sure, you might be celebrating another triumph in a week’s time, but the end of the road might come just as quickly, and you may never see some of your teammates again.

Granderson doesn’t believe that repeat celebrations diminish the significance of the ultimate prize, the World Series.

“It’s like birthdays,” he mused. “We have our first birthday – is that one more important than the 16th? Is that one more important than the 21st? Is that one more important than the 50th? They all have their special moments.”

McLaughlin agrees with the sentiment, adding a caveat.

“The big thing is at the end of each series when you win, you get a hat and T-shirt on the field that says division champ, American (League) champ; people want those so bad,” he said. “But when you get one that says world champ, you don’t even know where the other ones are.”

Harry How/Getty Images

However, there might be one exception.

In 2004, the Red Sox swept the St. Louis Cardinals 4-0 to win their first World Series since 1918, ending the so-called 86-year Curse of the Bambino. But McLaughlin recalls it wasn’t the biggest celebration of that postseason.

In fact, it was in the previous round, when they clawed their way back from 3-0 down against their fiercest rivals, those pesky Yankees, and clinched the series in New York. It was the first, and remains the only time an MLB club has dug themselves out of such a deep hole.

That was the party everyone remembers in 2004.

That was also the season David Ortiz says that he introduced the idea of wearing the protective goggles to his Red Sox teammates.

Now, when any baseball player looks back on the best nights of their careers, they’ll hopefully remember how good it all looked, even if they needed goggles to see it.

每个常规赛季结束时，如果波士顿红袜队战绩不错，他们就会收到来自装备供应商的一份特别包裹：100 副护目镜。

对于棒球队来说，这是一份不同寻常的礼物，但每打进季后赛，他们就会收到 100 副眼镜，直到他们打进世界大赛。

原因何在？香槟以极高的速度近距离喷向脸部会刺激眼睛，而棒球运动员在赢球时往往会这样做。

美国各大体育联盟的季后赛都有多轮赛程，但没有哪个联盟的庆祝方式能像MLB球队那样热闹。NFL的更衣室庆祝活动通常要等到超级碗才会热闹起来，而NHL的冰球运动员出了名的迷信，所以提前开香槟庆祝几乎是禁忌；对他们来说，斯坦利杯才是最重要的。

俱乐部经理汤姆·麦克劳克林在红袜队工作了40多年，他说自己已经记不清参与过多少次庆祝活动了，但肯定有几十次之多。他告诉CNN体育频道，在他80年代刚入职的时候，季后赛的庆祝场面“相当平静”，因为那时的季后赛赛程远比现在短，但如今，对于那些最成功的球队来说，赛季末的庆祝活动简直就像一场狂欢。

锁定季后赛席位了？庆祝一下！

成功闯过外卡赛？让我们尽情狂欢吧！

通过了分区赛？那就再来一轮！

赢得了总冠军？我们要好好庆祝一番。

当一支棒球队赢得世界大赛冠军时，可以肯定地说，他们的庆祝活动绝非初次上演。每个人都已经积累了丰富的经验。

Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos/Getty Images

麦克劳克林的工作之一就是搞到酒水。另一项工作是尽量避免香槟洒到每个人的个人物品、家具、电视和音响设备上。仔细看看任何一场关键胜利后的视频，你会发现到处都铺着保护性的塑料布。这场景就像电视剧《嗜血法医》里的“杀人室”。

布置好所有安全措施需要两个小时，如果钻石场上的情况看起来不太妙，工作人员就会在梯子上等着接到通知，把所有的塑料布都撕下来。

对于赢得系列赛而言，这样的保护至关重要。

“第一个小时非常紧张，”麦克劳克林告诉CNN体育频道。“简直太疯狂了。”

在狂欢中，昂贵的酩悦香槟或唐培里侬香槟被打开，每个人和所有东西都被淋湿了。

“它很湿，很粘。如果你身上有纸割伤或擦伤，它就会渗进去，”前强棒球员柯蒂斯·格兰德森向 CNN 解释道。

“这就像一场嬉闹的水枪大战。每个人都拿着自己的香槟酒瓶，摇晃瓶子，让气氛更加热烈，准备开战。你可以朝天花板喷，朝沙发喷，朝队友喷，朝记者喷，甚至朝自己喷。在更衣室里，任何地方都是攻击目标。”

故意泼水给某人是一种尊重的表现。在克利夫兰卫士队外卡系列赛逆转芝加哥白袜队的比赛中发挥关键作用后，史蒂文·关在更衣室里几乎无法接受记者的采访。

“我的天哪！不要啊！”他倒吸一口凉气，泡沫被浇得满头都是。“太冷了！我觉得自己现在成了众矢之的。我在擂台上。我努力活下去，但这真的太刺激了。”

Jared Wickerham/MLB Photos/Getty Images

格兰德森回忆说，在他参与的 12 到 15 次俱乐部庆祝活动中，他不记得自己喝过任何香槟。

“我觉得我主要是在喷洒，”他说。“喷洒物沾到了我的脸和嘴周围，所以我尝到了。但我并没有真的把它倒出来喝。”

格兰德森说，他把一些在庆祝活动中佩戴过的护目镜珍藏在奖杯柜里，但其他人则更喜欢在庆祝活动中调动所有五种感官。

“我的队友迈克尔·库迪尔总是说，你得‘付出代价’才能体会到那种灼烧感，”格兰德森解释说。“他总是不戴护目镜，因为他喜欢那种灼烧眼睛的感觉。在他看来，能有机会体验这种感觉，就意味着你做得很好。”

有时候，问题不仅仅在于酒精。

麦克劳克林说，他记得上世纪90年代纽约扬基队在芬威球场庆祝系列赛胜利时，食物、牛奶和酸奶到处乱飞。他们甚至还把淋浴间的软管也拖了出来，以示庆祝。

“90 年代的洋基队在尽情玩乐的时候并没有吃亏，”他说道，同时也承认了他们在派对结束到日出之间不得不收拾的烂摊子。

“如果你当时在酒店大堂，情况就大不一样了，”他笑着说。“我敢肯定警察会介入。”

每年季后赛临近时，波士顿一家地毯清洁公司都会做好准备；如果系列赛胜负已定，他们会在凌晨两点被叫去进行地毯清洗工作。

俱乐部管理人员会尽力保护俱乐部财产，但他们能做的也仅限于此。

“无论你怎么清洁，都会难闻好几天，”麦克劳克林说，并补充说天花板瓷砖会变成棕色，几乎是黑色，必须更换。

那么，为什么棒球界对这些庆祝动作如此着迷呢？麦克劳克林沉思道：“我不知道它从何而来，真的不知道，我真希望我能找到答案。”

他开始自言自语，回忆起这些年来他看到球员和球队热情地重新装修他的俱乐部会所的情景。

最终他认同了成功转瞬即逝的观点：“你可能是一名昙花一现的球员，只在一场比赛中有所作为——你可能再也无法回到大联盟了。所以，我认为当你有机会庆祝，有机会珍惜你所拥有的一切时，为什么不呢？”

Michael Urakami/MLB Photos/Getty Images

棒球是一项压力巨大的心理运动，成败往往只在一线之间，球员们接受过严格的情绪控制训练。球队关系非常紧密，从春训到十月，几乎每时每刻都在一起，这可以称之为一场长达162场比赛的马拉松。

因此，或许可以将夺得联赛冠军或进入季后赛后的庆祝派对视为释放所有积压压力的方式，一种赛季没有白费的解脱。

当然，你可能在一周后庆祝另一场胜利，但终点也可能很快到来，你可能再也见不到你的一些队友了。

格兰德森认为，重复的庆祝活动并不会降低最终奖项——世界大赛的意义。

“这就像生日一样，”他沉思道。“我们有第一个生日——它比16岁生日更重要吗？16岁生日比21岁生日更重要吗？21岁生日比50岁生日更重要吗？每个生日都有它特殊的意义。”

麦克劳克林同意这种观点，但补充了一点。

“最重要的是，每轮系列赛结束后，如果你赢了，你就能在球场上拿到印有分区冠军、美联冠军字样的帽子和T恤；人们都特别想要这些，”他说。“但如果你拿到的是世界冠军的，你甚至都不知道其他的在哪儿。”

Harry How/Getty Images

然而，或许存在一个例外。

2004年，波士顿红袜队以4比0横扫圣路易斯红雀队，赢得了自1918年以来的首个世界大赛冠军，终结了所谓的“贝比鲁斯魔咒”长达86年之久。但麦克劳克林回忆说，这并不是那届季后赛中最盛大的庆祝活动。

事实上，就在上一轮比赛中，他们从0-3落后于宿敌——那支难缠的洋基队——的绝境中奋起直追，最终在纽约赢得了系列赛。这是MLB历史上第一次，也是迄今为止唯一一次，球队能够从如此巨大的劣势中逆转取胜。

那是2004年每个人都记忆犹新的一场派对。

大卫·奥尔蒂斯也表示，正是在那个赛季，他向红袜队的队友们介绍了佩戴防护眼镜的想法。

如今，当任何棒球运动员回顾自己职业生涯中最美好的夜晚时，他们应该都会记得当时的场面有多么精彩，即使他们需要戴护目镜才能看清。