From left, San Francisco Giants outfielders Casey Schmitt (10), Harrison Bader (9) and Drew Gilbert (0) are seen in the outfield after their 10-3 win over the Chicago White Sox Chicago White Sox Sox in San Francisco, Saturday, May 23, 2026.
Stephen Lam/S.F. Chronicle
Giants outfielders including Drew Gilbert, left, Harrison Bader, center, and Jung Hoo Lee have made creative celebrations part of their postgame routine.
Sara Nevis/Associated Press
Through losing streaks, injuries to key players and slaps on the wrist, the San Francisco Giants’ viral outfield win celebrations persist — with self-deprecating and coy twists.
After Saturday’s 10-3 win over the Chicago White Sox at Oracle Park, outfielders Harrison Bader, Drew Gilbert and Casey Schmitt met in center field appearing to mimic a well-known skit from the Comedy Central show Key & Peele called “McCringleberry’s Excessive Celebration.”
In the skit, a fictional football wide receiver, Hingle McCringleberry, is dinged for doing one too many thrusts at his teammates during his touchdown celebration. The referee throws up a yellow flag, saying the rule book allows two thrusts maximum — and won’t cut him any slack for a half one.
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The Giants trio looked to act out the skit with Gilbert playing McCringleberry, Bader acting as referee and Schmitt as the frustrated teammate.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Bader said, when asked about the celebration.
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Added Schmitt, who is a new outfield addition playing his first games in left: “I didn’t know what was going on. I was just there.”
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After the game, Gilbert posted a photo to his Instagram stories of the celebration with a reference to the skit, “3 too many!”
Giants outfielders have to play coy about the celebration because they were called out after their thrusting one went viral online following a win against the Los Angeles Dodgers on May 12. Gilbert, Bader and Jung Hoo Lee met in center field, hugged and broke into a full suggestive gyration — and word from the league was passed down to them to put the kibosh on such vulgarity.
“There was some sort of message communicated to us,” Gilbert said before a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks. “I think it came from the league, we didn’t hear it directly. Someone told us.”
Since then, the Giants haven’t won many games with opportunities to give fans updated renditions, but all eyes are out there to see what’s up their sleeve when they manage to pull out a victory.
They went with a complete opposite concept following their next win against the Dodgers. Heliot Ramos, Lee and Bader met in center field, took off their caps and bowed in a row. That was Lee’s idea, Gilbert said, concocted as the trio jogged to the middle.
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All the celebrations are improvised at the moment, Gilbert asserted.
“We don’t have time to come up with something like that. We’re going about our day, working the whole time,” he said. “Improv, straight improv. That’s what we do. We have more time to come up with things than you’d think once the game is over. Everything slows down as you trot over.”
The Giants had lost four straight, including a sweep in Arizona, before the outfielders got another chance to put on a show. Plus, they lost two regular participants in Ramos and Lee to the injured list.
The Bader, Schmitt and Gilbert trio had every reason to celebrate a bit more after Saturday’s win. Bader hit a grand slam, his second of the week, and Schmitt hit his 10th home run of the year, starting his fourth career game in left field. The ever-changing crew is having fun out there.
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“It was pretty fun out there,” Schmitt said. “You look over there at Harry with his pink stuff, looks good, just make sure I’m picking up (coach Shane Robinson) in the dugout, just gotta make sure I’m doing that.”
Said Gilbert: “Doesn’t matter who is out there. Whoever is, you roll with what you got and see what happens.”