Origins of ECU baseball’s celebratory ‘Bird House’

GREENVILLE, N.C. (WITN) - The ECU baseball team earned its fourth home series sweep of the season by taking down Illinois State over the weekend. The Pirates are now 16-3 and ranked No. 8 in the country, but it’s not their play on the field grabbing national attention. Rather, it’s their head-turning home run celebration involving an orange safety cone.

After every crack of the bat, the ‘Bird House’ patiently awaits.

“I have no idea. I just said, ‘Smitty, what is it?’” head coach Cliff Godwin said after Sunday’s 11-8 victory over the Redbirds.

Yes, Cliff. Everyone wants to know. What is it?

“[Smitty] says, ‘It’s the ‘Bird House,’” added Godwin. “So, I said, ‘Okay. Cool.’”

But what is this ‘Bird House?’ Clearly, it’s not a dog house.

“It just gets the dugout a little hype,” junior catcher Seth Caddell said.

Okay, Seth. But what else do you know about this so-called ‘Bird House?’

“When you hit a home run you get the ‘Bird House,’ so that’s about all I know,” Caddell added.

The catcher leads the Pirates with eight home runs, so he’s been in the ‘Bird House’ the most this season.

That’s better. But maybe Tyler Smith can further this conversation. After all, the senior pitcher is the proud owner and founder of the ‘Bird House.’

“The backstory is we found this in the mud room one day, and we decided we were going to use this for every home run celebration,” Smith explained.

Okay, this is all making sense, but what about the hole?

“We have the player ledge just because I cut my nose on it, and we didn’t want that to happen to anybody else,” Smith added.

Well, that’s certainly considerate. What about it’s comfort though? Is it fun to wear?

“I wouldn’t say it’s comfortable, but hey, you hit a home run, so you might as well put it on,” said Caddell. “That’s what feels good.”

These Pirates are just so much better with some personality.

“I want our guys to have personality, to have fun,” said Godwin. “They work extremely hard in the classroom, on the field. So, I want them to have a little bit of fun, as long as it’s not disrespecting the game, and I don’t think that’s disrespecting the game.”

We’ll have to see if the Pirates can bring out the ‘Bird House’ Tuesday in Chapel Hill when they battle No. 11 UNC in a huge in-state Top 15 matchup. First pitch is slated for 6 p.m. at Boshamer Stadium and the game will air live on the ACC Network.

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