Ronald Acuña Jr. is already one of the most exciting and entertaining players in baseball, and his personality on the field — along with his talent — is a huge reason for that.
The guy simply knows how to put on a show, and that is especially true whenever Acuña makes appearances in the Venezuelan league during the offseason. The Atlanta Braves star had himself a viral celebration this week when his fourth-inning home run on a 3-0 count gave his hometown Tiburones de La Guaira a two-run lead.
Acuña unleashed just about every celebration you could imagine in the 33-second home run trot.
Baseball Twitter will have a field day with this one from @ronaldacunajr24 pic.twitter.com/YdCpiVkBEg
— Michael Schlact (@michael_schlact) January 25, 2023
Tiburones would end up losing the game, 8-5, to go down 0-2 in the series against Leones del Caracas. But shortly after the game, Acuña announced his retirement from the league in an Instagram Story before deleting his Instagram account all together. That had some speculating that criticism over his celebration was behind the abrupt retirement. However, Acuña’s family was reportedly attacked during an altercation in the stands that game.
Ronald Acuña Jr. publicó en sus historias de la red social Instagram pic.twitter.com/SX5u1Jg4e5
— Mari Montes 🇻🇪 ⚾️🐾🫓🎵🏳️🌈 (@porlagoma) January 25, 2023
But if the celebration had anything to do with Acuña’s supposed retirement from the Venezuelan league, that would be a shame. There’s nothing wrong with a big-league star enjoying himself while playing for his hometown team.
Fans had plenty of thoughts on the celebration, but honestly, it was great. Baseball needs more of that.