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​Adam Rosales Home Run Celebration Pays Tribute to Grieving Padres Teammate Yangervis Solarte

Yangervis Solarte lost his wife to cancer over the weekend and his Padres teammates sent him a message to let him know they were thinking of him.

One of the top underrated free pleasures in Major League Baseball is watching Adam Rosales perform his unique home-run trot. Only, it's not a trot so much as a sprint. No matter how far he's hit it, Rosales runs around the bases as if the ball he's hit has no chance of clearing the fence.

When he hit a solo home run for the San Diego Padres at Coors Field on Sunday afternoon, Rosales added a movement to his home-run celebration that honored a teammate going through an unimaginable personal hardship. Yangervis Solarte's wife, Yuliette Solarte, died Saturday from complications due to cancer. She was just 31 years old, and the couple has three young daughters. It's difficult to comprehend the impact of her death if it hasn't happened to your own family, but Rosales said the Padres wanted to let Solarte know they stood with him in some way, so they agreed Sunday before a game against the Rockies: If anyone homered, the player would incorporate Solarte's own home-run celebration into theirs.

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So, as he crossed home plate, Rosales slowed from his sprint, turned his hands to the side and clapped them together, not unlike a chomping alligator.

Solarte himself posted this photo of Yuliette on Instagram:

The Padres lost 6-3, but hopefully Solarte noticed their message of comradeship. It's a secondary consideration of course, but Solarte has been among the bright spots for the Padres during the 2016 season, hitting .284 with an .811 OPS and 15 home runs while playing third base. It's been a career-best season for him during the worst of times off the field.

[MLB]