Giddy up! Astros unveil new home run celebration

HOUSTON -- Saddle up, the Astros have finally joined the home run celebration fun.

When slugger Yordan Alvarez roped his seventh homer of the season in the third inning to help corral a 3-1 win over the Rockies on Wednesday, veteran catcher Christian Vázquez placed an orange and blue Astros cowboy hat on his head in the dugout, which Alvarez wore proudly as he received high-fives along the bench.

The Astros are late to the party, but they’re here. Other teams have been already doing it for a while: the Mariners give a gold trident to the player who homers, and the Blue Jays put on a jacket with a Canadian flag emblazoned on the right arm while boasting the home countries represented by players and staff. This year, the Pirates recently started using a steel worker’s mask after homers.

Vázquez found the hat, which has an orange brim and blue crown with an Astros logo on front, online for $50 and purchased it. He told Alvarez pregame Wednesday to be ready to wear it if he hits a homer.

“I was looking for something cool to do for the home run celebration,” said Vázquez, who played the previous three seasons with the Twins, who at one point had a fishing jacket and rod and reel. “I found this on the website. It was cool. We’re in Texas, so, you know…”

Vázquez said he plans to put the jersey numbers of all the hitters around the crown.

“It’s something that everybody wants to wear after a homer,” he said. “We’ll do it together.”

Astros manager Joe Espada hopes to see the hat worn a lot this season.

“I love it,” he said. “I thought it was cool. I’ve been waiting for something like that for a while. Again, it’s their team. They get to celebrate home runs however they want to. If it’s 40 times they put the hat on Yordan’s head, I’m all for it.”

Giddy up.