Atlanta Braves superstar Ronald Acuña’s All-Star Game chain would make Joc Pederson jealous — a man who once wore pearls to the World Series.
Acuña is playing in his third All-Star Game, where he’ll be starting in the outfield for the National League. It’s his second-straight year in the event, as he’s quickly grown into one of the most popular players in the league down in Atlanta.
The 24-year-old’s flair has not gone unnoticed by the rest of the league. He wears his heart on his sleeve, and sometimes his jersey. On Tuesday night, Acuña will wear a chain decked out in diamonds. You have to see it to believe it.
The chain, which is $140,000 (more than most of us make in a year or so, for reference), features ’12 carats of emerald-shaped VVS diamonds and six carats of round brilliant rocks … and a gorilla enameled on top,’ per TMZ.
Braves: Ronald Acuña not afraid to show off some bling
Personal branding and showing personality is what Acuña is all about.
In the offseason, former teammate Freddie Freeman and Acuña got in a small beef over some comments the former reportedly made earlier in Acuña’s career.
In some comments via Instagram, Acuña confirmed he wasn’t at all upset when Freeman left, instead understanding that this was his team now. Acuña also opened up about his relationship with Freeman, stating the two had a number of clashes when he was a rookie because of the way he dressed and expressed himself.
Freeman was surprised by these comments, saying that he’ll miss Acuña quite a bit. He also explained this so-called friction.
“When you put on a Braves uniform in that organization, there’s organization rules,” Freeman explained. “You don’t cover the A with sunglasses, you don’t wear earrings, you have your hair a certain length, you wear a uniform during BP, you don’t have eye black coming down across your whole face.”
Yet, Acuña has and always will do things his way — and that’s the way it should be. The iced chain on Tuesday night is just another example of that.
It’s part of what makes modern baseball great.