The Blue Jays home run jacket could be a thing of the past

DUNEDIN, Fla. — Will the Blue Jays’ home run jacket be part of the team’s dugout party when the regular season begins next month?

We’re beginning to feel like the team’s lavish celebration for the last two seasons could be a thing of the past.

“It’s up to the players,” said manager John Schneider when asked about Sunday’s standings. “I think anything the players want to do is going to be cool. We’ve had the jacket for a few years.

“It wouldn’t be surprising if it were different this year.”

There is not much to read between these lines. Consider that the overall tone of the Jays off-season was to up the seriousness of the team’s approach on multiple levels, and you could see where that was headed. While other teams around Major League Baseball have unique home run celebrations, the Jays were certainly close to the top of the league with their elaborate use of the jacket. While innocent enough, there were times when it felt a bit too reckless.

Schneider, of course, isn’t the type to forbid fun, but clearly doesn’t think there’ll be a problem with a toned-down Celly. However, the mindset seems to be that there are bigger things to celebrate.

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“Home runs are great and I think you celebrate them,” Schneider said. “I think the overall message, whether it’s putting on a jacket or doing something in the dugout, we want to celebrate more than just home runs.

“We want to focus on catching the ball. We want to focus on getting to the base. stuff like this. It’s entirely up to the players. We talked about it briefly, but we’ll see where we end up with that.”

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