Mason’s Musings: A Drive Into Deep Left Field

On June 3, 2026, the San Diego Padres designated Nick Castellanos for assignment, effectively ending his time with the organization where he hit .191/.221/.339 with four home runs this season. While this isn’t technically the end of his career as any team could opt to claim him, it very well could be the end of the line for the veteran hitter. If this is the end for Castellanos, he will end his career with 254 home runs and a .270/.319/.462 triple slash in 7072 plate appearances over 13 years. However, his legacy is much more than that.

Prior to August 19, 2020, Nick Castellanos was just an above average baseball player, but on that date, he became a meme within the sports world and beyond. After uttering a homophobic slur on a hot mic, Reds game announcer, Thom Brennaman was apologizing for his comment when Castellanos hit a three-run home run:

However, this wouldn’t be the last time something like this happened. It also wasn’t the first. Some have documented the times when Nick Castellanos has homered during terrible or unfortunate events have happened, however, as a baseball writer with a history degree, I felt it was important to do a deep dive on the subject in order to test my theory that Nick Castellanos home runs have had an historic effect on humanity.

Let us start with the beginning of his career.

On April 9, 2014, Nick Castellanos hit his first career home run.

Earlier that day, it was announced that the comic book character Archie would be killed off. It was never connected to Castellanos and why should it have been at that time? However, the hits (or homers) continued.

On April 19, 2014, Castellanos hit his third career home run.

Photo I took of Nick Castellanos’ home run swing yesterday pic.twitter.com/6nhkFA7sem

— Matt Houston (@mhoust3) April 21, 2014

What else happened that day? Well, a meteor crashed into the Earth in Russia,

The following season, on April 24, 2015 there was a 6.4 earthquake in New Zealand which caused millions of dollars worth of damage. Castellanos also shook the earth that day with a home run against Cleveland. Then on August 26th, 2015, a baby giant panda cub passed away at the Smithsonian Zoo. Castellanos homered that day. Coincidence? Maybe, but maybe not.

In 2016, on April 29th, Castellanos upped the ferocity of his attacks, when a 7.0 earthquake happened in Vanuatu and he homered just five hours later.

Was this an aftershock?

On July 6, 2016, Pokemon GO was first released, forcing tens of thousands of parents to go outside while their kids still play on their smart phones. Nick Castellanos went 3-for-5 with a home run.

In 2017, on June 9th, Nick Castellanos homered on the same day Adam West died. He did it on the day Batman died!!! Gotham Police would not comment on whether there was a connection.

On July 1, 2018, LeBron James signed a 4-year deal with the Los Angeles Lakers, effectively ruining the day of millions of basketball fans. You know what else happened that day? Nick Castellanos hit a grand slam.

In 2019, on May 26th, Nick Castellanos hit a home run and continued shaking the world, this time with an 8.0 earthquake in Peru.

On July 5, 2021, WWII Veteran George A. Gorman passed away and while the Royals broadcast was eulogizing him on the telecast, Castellanos homered.

On May 10, 2022, Castellanos celebrated the death of the Apple iPod, which was announced as being discontinued that day, by homering.

Later that month, he interrupted a Memorial Day remembrance with another.

What could be his final home run happened on May 22 of this year.

Maybe it was because of this, but that day, CBS closed its news division after 90 years of reporting. Castellanos may have killed journalism.

There were many other instances of Castellanos home runs (allegedly) causing terrible things around the globe to happen throughout his career, but there were too many to name in just one article. Not all the memories were bad though. He had six seasons with 20+ home runs and while he will be remembered for some bad days like some of the ones mentioned above and others that have happened more recently, I will look forward to his eventual induction into the Hall of Pretty Good and knowing that we can all sleep a little easier knowing that Castellanos home runs can’t hurt us anymore.