MLB star Nick Castellanos continues eerie trend of hitting a home run in major moments of US history

• Nick Castellanos hit a grand slam on Sunday after another historic development

By JAKE NISSE

MLB star Nick Castellanos has continued his bizarre trend of hitting home runs on the same day as major historical moments, as the Phillies slugger went long just hours after Alexander Ovechkin broke Wayne Gretzky’s NHL scoring record.

Ovechkin surpassed the hockey great on Sunday as he scored the 895th goal of his career, in a game against the Islanders.

Later in the day, Castellanos hit a grand slam for the Phillies in an eventual 8-7 win over the Dodgers.

And it’s far from the first time that Castellanos interrupted, preceded or followed a separate significant moment.

The trend began in 2020, when Reds broadcaster Thom Brennaman was caught on a hot mic using a homophobic slur during a game.

He apologized for his words (which ultimately cost him his job) in a subsequent inning, and Castellanos unbelievably hit a home run during the announcer’s on-air mea cupla, resulting in a now-infamous call of the play.

Nick Castellanos celebrates hitting a grand slam on Sunday against the Dodgers

Earlier in the day, Alex Ovechkin (left) broke Wayne Gretzky’s NHL scoring record

‘I pride myself and think of myself as a man of faith, as there’s a drive into deep left field by Castellanos and that’ll be a home run,’ Brennaman said. ‘And so that’ll make it a 4-0 ballgame.’

Castellanos also hit a home run on July 13, 2024, hours before an assassination attempt was made on Donald Trump, who was then running for his second-term as President.

Roughly a week later, he added to the Phillies advantage against the Pirates with a solo home run.

The blast came a couple of hours after then-President Joe Biden dropped out of the forthcoming presidential race.

Furthermore, Castellanos also went long during a game on July 5, 2021 – interrupting a eulogy from the Royals broadcast about a World War II veteran – and in the following year during a somber Memorial Day tribute on TV.

And last June, Castellanos also produced a game-winning RBI – albeit not a home run – hours after it was announced baseball legend Willie Mays had died.

While the idea that Castellanos’ home runs have been correlated with unfortunate events has become a running joke among MLB fans, his wife, Jess, previously told fans to cut it out. 

Castellanos has become known for hitting home runs during unfortunate moments

In 2020, he hit a home run as Thom Brennaman was apologizing for using a homophobic slur

Alexander Ovechkin celebrates his 895th career goal, the most of all time in the NHL

‘PSA to all Nick Castellanos joke tweets: something s***ty happens everyday in the world find a new joke,’ she wrote on X in 2021.

‘And the amount of disrespectful replies and DMs is absolutely astounding by all these trolls on the internet… but I’m sure they’re great people in real life,’ she later added.

Castellanos’ grand slam on Sunday was his second home run of this season for the Phillies, in nine games.

He hit 23 for the Phillies last season and has 235 homers in his career.

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MLB star Nick Castellanos continues eerie trend of hitting a home run in major moments of US history

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