After Walker Buehler was ejected in the third inning of the Boston Red Sox's May 20 win over the New York Mets, skipper Alex Cora came screaming out of the home dugout to defend his pitcher.
Cora only got a few words in to home plate umpire Mike Estabrook before he was tossed himself. Before he descended the stairs into the clubhouse, Cora dialed the bullpen phone to summon Brennan Bernardino to take Buehler's place on the hill. The manager slammed the phone cover closed before departing the game, which left the piece of gray plastic emblazoned with the word "BULLPEN" hanging off the phone box.
That wasn't the last Sox fans saw of the bullpen phone cover, though. After Carlos Narváez cracked his fifth homer of the year to lead off the fifth inning, Tanner Houck raised the cover above his head. He brandished it like a hockey player does the Stanley Cup, or like Lloyd Dobler lifts a boombox in "Say Anything." Needless to say, the memes of Houck displaying the cover are legendary.
Rob Refsnyder held the phone cover throughout the dugout celebration, and Narváez high-fived it as he made his way down the handshake line of teammates while wearing the Wally the Green Monster homer mask.
The Sox kept the joke running, and the phone cover even made it into the clubhouse after their 2-0 win. Bernardino told Mike Monaco of WEEI that it may become a new celebration for the team.
Alex Cora's ejection potentially resulted in new Red Sox dugout celebration
The Red Sox already have a home run celebration, commissioned by Jarren Duran at the start of the season. There's no telling the context in which Boston will see the bullpen phone cover next, but many fans anxiously await its next appearance. If the dugout does break the phone cover out again, it'll be the Red Sox's second celebration centered around Cora — they used his Boston Athletic Association 5 K medal as their 2024 homer celly.
The bullpen phone cover was a perfect celebratory object for the May 20 game. Buehler was ejected with 6.2 innings left to pitch, and six additional pitchers held the Mets scoreless for the rest of the game. Boston only managed two runs, both homers from Narváez and Rafael Devers, and the 'pen was the only thing keeping it in the game.
Cora smashing the bullpen phone could start a new trend for the late innings. The Red Sox's bullpen has blown a league-leading 11 saves and the team has lost a dozen one-run games, but their performance against the Mets could signal a momentum shift. A new celebration could complement such a shift nicely.
