A's new home run celebration is amazing, but also somewhat terrifying

NEW YORK -- A mysterious giant gold chain featuring the head of an elephant sat at the locker of Luis Severino earlier this week, piquing the curiosity of several Athletics players who walked into the visiting clubhouse at Yankee Stadium.

Turns out, Severino ordered the chain and had it delivered on Tuesday for the start of this six-game road trip against the two New York teams. The chain was supposed to be the team’s new home run celebration, but the problem was that the A’s had gone homerless over the first four games of the trip, leaving the chain mostly untouched and collecting dust.

During Saturday’s 11-6 victory over the Mets at Citi Field, the A’s finally debuted their new homer celebration for 2026. After Tyler Soderstrom clobbered a two-run blast off Kodai Senga in the third -- the first of his two big flies on the afternoon -- and returned to the dugout, Lawrence Butler draped the chain around Soderstrom's neck.

But there was more to this celebration.

As Soderstrom made his way through the high-five line with teammates inside the dugout, he stopped towards the end of the bench in front of Severino, who pulled out a black leather elephant mask -- complete with a trunk and tusks -- and placed it over Soderstrom’s head, completing the chain and mask combo that will be awarded to all homering A’s players going forward.

• The story behind A's elephant logo

“It’s fun,” Soderstrom said. “I probably crashed out a little too much in the dugout. But it’s fun to have something to come back to and celebrate with the guys. … It’s a long, grindy season. Anything we can do to make the game more fun, it’ll only be better for us.”

Later in the inning, Carlos Cortes launched a Statcast-projected 406-foot three-run shot to right-center. Upon returning to the dugout, he pulled the mask down on his head from Severino and appeared to be making elephant noises, much to the delight of teammates and coaches.

“I was going a little too crazy with it on,” Cortes said with a laugh. “I was having trouble breathing for a second.”

The chain and the mask appear to be an ode to A’s mascot Stomper, the big and jolly elephant who roams the stands during A’s home games. This elephant, however, looks a bit more menacing, some could say terrifying, with its dark green eyes.

Nonetheless, the mask is a unanimous hit inside the A’s clubhouse.

“I like the elephant mask going back to Stomper,” said Butler, now the team’s designated chain distributor. “It looks good. The mask looks like a real elephant. … I think we can do a little bit better on the chain. Maybe add a little bit more bling. But it’s working. Shout out to Severino for putting some bling on our necks.”

As for manager Mark Kotsay, he’s just glad to see his players enjoying themselves.

“They’re having fun,” Kotsay said with a grin. “I’ll try to let them be them. It just showed up in the dugout. … They seem to be really excited about it.”

Soderstrom earned the elephant chain and mask again in the eighth with a booming 420-foot three-run shot that was much-needed. Before that, what was a 7-1 lead entering the fifth had dwindled to 7-6 heading into the eighth.

For Soderstrom, arguably the team’s most consistent hitter last year with 25 homers, 34 doubles and 93 RBIs in 158 games, his first two homers of ‘26 snapped him out of what had been a slow start to the season.

“He’s been a little frustrated with his performance,” Kotsay said. “I know it felt good for him. Tyler is a kid that we just continue to watch grow as a big part of this club and a big part of the offense. It’s fun to watch.”

Despite going without a home run over the previous four games, the A’s found a way to go 3-1 in that stretch with good pitching and timely hitting. But at its core, this young A’s squad prides itself as a team that thrives on the long ball with its high-powered offense, and Saturday finally saw a return to that version with 15 hits, including three big homers that accounted for eight of their 11 runs.

“One through nine, we’re tough at-bats and good hitters,” Butler said. “Pitchers have to lock in on all of us. We’re not up there giving away any at-bats. We’re grinding. … I love everybody’s at-bats right now. We’re all trying to do the job and get a win.”