Nick Castellanos can’t stop hitting home runs during historic and somber moments. Here are a dozen examples.

“As there’s a drive into deep left field by Castellanos …”

If you’ve been on X at any point in the last four years, you’ve probably seen some variation of this joke. In 2020, Nick Castellanos hit one of the most infamous home runs in MLB history. Infamous not because of anything that was happening in the game, but because it came right in the middle of Reds broadcaster Thom Brennaman’s apology for using a homophobic slur over the air earlier that night.

The clip quickly went mega-viral. Even if you’re not on X, you’ve likely heard some variation of it, attached to bad celebrity apologies — or, other opportune Castellanos home runs.

Fans began to pick up on Castellanos’ knack for hitting home runs at hilarious and historical moments — but it didn’t start there, and it certainly hasn’t ended there.

Sunday, in the Phillies’ 6-0 win over the Pirates, Castellanos hit a home run just after Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race — and on the same day the CW announced they were ending Brennaman’s four-year banishment from the broadcast booth, bringing him in to call ACC football games in 2024. The weekend prior, Castellanos hit a home run the same day as the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.

But this rabbit hole goes way deeper ...

Young Nick Castellanos was in his first minor league season with the Detroit Tigers organization, with the single-A West Michigan Whitecaps. He hit his first professional home run, a two-run shot, in a 13-7 loss on May 1, 2011. That also happened to be the day Osama bin Laden was killed. We should’ve known from the start.

A little over a year after the Brennaman clip went viral, in the same park and against the same team, the Kansas City Royals, the broadcast attempted to eulogize George A. Gorman, a World War II veteran and the father of a Royals clubhouse employee. Of course, Castellanos had to drive it into deep left-center field.

The date here speaks for itself. Of course Castellanos was going deep on the 20th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks.

I’m cheating a bit — this one wasn’t a home run. But Castellanos’ first hit with the Phillies in spring training came as the opposing Blue Jays’ broadcast discussed pitching coach Pete Walker’s recent DUI. Seems like a good rule of thumb is to lay off discussing important, somber news when Castellanos is up to bat.

Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars and everyone was talking about it. In his first at-bat the following day, Castellanos hit his first home run in a Phillies uniform in spring training.

Even Castellanos’ brother couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

Castellanos hit his first regular-season home run for the Phillies on the same day Steelers quarterback Dwayne Haskins died.

On Memorial Day, Tom McCarthy aimed to pay tribute to those who made “the ultimate sacrifice.” The words barely made it out of his mouth before Castellanos hit a solo homer.

One notable occasion where Castellanos didn’t hit a home run? The death of Queen Elizabeth II — but that wasn’t entirely his fault. Castellanos was on the injured list from Sept. 2 to Sept. 26, and missed the games where the team honored her. That didn’t stop fans from making jokes and edits about Castellanos hitting a bomb following her tribute video at Citizens Bank Park — and some were so good that people believed it was real.

The game in which the Phillies honored the late Queen was against the Marlins, however the clip above of Castellanos hitting a home run is from a different game against the Braves.

Early in the morning on June 11, 2023, I-95 collapsed in Northeast Philadelphia. Later that day, Castellanos hit a homer.

The guy just hates serious moments on the broadcast. This time, it was a tribute to Charlie Manuel, who had suffered a stroke. TBS broadcaster Brian Anderson provided an update on Manuel for the fans watching at home, but of course, Castellanos hit a home run halfway through it.

A little under an hour after the Giants announced the death of legend Willie Mays, Castellanos hit a walk-off double.

Castellanos’ home run on the day of the Trump assassination attempt actually came before shots were fired, but he did hit a double just after, and that has to count for something.

On Sunday, just after Biden officially announced he was dropping out of the race, Castellanos hit another home run. Because of course he did.

If you’re a gambler, just lock the Castellanos home run prop in every time something big happens. Seems like you’ll come out ahead.