Eight-year-old Silas and 5-year-old Isiah were just watching baseball at Progressive Field on August 29 when Mustard, the Cleveland Guardians' beloved condiment mascot, rolled up and started signing to them in American Sign Language. The brothers, both of whom are deaf and use cochlear implants, lit up as Mustard signed that his name was Mustard and asked for theirs, along with whether they liked baseball. The moment was captured on video and quickly spread online.
The interaction happened during a sold-out community event called Deaf and Hard of Hearing Night at the Ballpark, organized by the Cleveland Hearing & Speech Center and Advocates 4 Kids, which coincided with the Guardians' matchup against the Seattle Mariners that night. Mother Felicia Aquilo told FOX 8 News that the family had attended quite a few Guardians games before, but this one was different — she said the interaction showed her sons that they belong there. Aquilo posted the moment on social media, and it went viral soon after.
How the Team Found the Family
The Guardians' connection to Silas and Isiah actually started before that night. Aquilo had shared a video explaining that Isiah believed every TV commentator wore a cochlear implant, because he mistook their broadcast earpieces for hearing devices, according to the same report. That clip caught the team's attention and led to an invitation for the family to attend a Saturday night game, with the Guardians going a step further by inviting them onto the field for batting practice.
Aquilo described the whole experience as a great day for her family, per FOX 8's report. Silas and Isiah, who both play and love baseball, told their mother that Mustard's sign-language interaction was the coolest thing they'd experienced at the ballpark. Aquilo even said her sons could potentially become Major League Baseball players themselves someday.
Mustard's Underdog Reputation
Mustard is one of the four condiment characters — alongside Ketchup, Onion, and newer addition Spicy — who race each other in the fifth-inning Sugardale Hot Dog Derby, a Progressive Field tradition explained by Cleveland fans on Reddit. The mascot has long been a fan favorite in Cleveland thanks to his underdog story: he endured a 75-race losing streak back in 2022, was humorously demoted to High-A affiliate Lake County, and eventually won his first race during Fan Appreciation Weekend, according to a report from that same year by WKYC 3News. That underdog persona has made Mustard something of a Cleveland folk hero well beyond this latest viral clip.
A Community Built Around Deaf Services
The event itself was tied to real infrastructure for deaf residents in the region. The Community Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, run by the Cleveland Hearing & Speech Center, is the only full-service community center for deaf individuals in Northeast Ohio, serving Cuyahoga County and six surrounding counties. Nationally, roughly 65,000 children in the United States have received cochlear implants, according to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, while the Hearing Loss Association of America estimates that about 1 in 500 infants is born with or develops hearing loss in early childhood, with more than 5 million children and teens ages 6 to 19 experiencing some degree of hearing loss.
The Guardians' outreach to Silas and Isiah's family fits into a broader pattern of accessibility programming at Progressive Field. The team also holds an annual Disability Pride Celebration every July, featuring an accessible community resource fair and portable universal changing facilities. Around the league, teams including the Chicago Cubs, Atlanta Braves, Tampa Bay Rays, and Los Angeles Dodgers have hosted dedicated Deaf Awareness nights this season, offering live ASL stadium interpreters and specialized ASL merchandise as part of a wider push toward inclusive game-day experiences.
Baseball's ties to the deaf community run deeper than any single mascot moment. Minor League Baseball has highlighted the legacy of William “Dummy” Hoy, a deaf outfielder who played in the majors from the 1880s into the early 1900s and helped popularize the hand signals umpires and coaches still use today. For a family like the Aquilos, watching a mascot sign hello at Progressive Field taps into a history that stretches back more than a century.
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