It’s a gesture known around the world: an exuberant slap of open palms between two people, often accompanied by a smile, a cheer, or a victory yell.
But few know that the high five, now a universal symbol of celebration, was born in a split-second moment on a sunny October afternoon in 1977—right on the field at Dodger Stadium.
On October 2, 1977, the Los Angeles Dodgers were chasing baseball history. Outfielder Dusty Baker stepped up to the plate and blasted his 30th home run of the season, becoming the fourth Dodger that year to reach that milestone.
As he rounded the bases and returned to home plate, his teammate Glenn Burke, waiting in the on-deck circle, instinctively raised his hand high in the air.
What happened next was unscripted and electric.
“I didn’t know what to do,” Baker recalled years later. “So I just slapped it.”
That slap—the first high five—was a spontaneous celebration between two teammates, but it quickly caught fire. By the next season, fans and players alike were mimicking the motion, and the gesture began spreading to basketball courts, football fields, and playgrounds across America.
Burke, a charismatic and trailblazing figure, embraced the move and helped popularize it. Notably, he would later become the first Major League Baseball player to come out as gay after his retirement, and some view the high five as an early emblem of both inclusion and joyful resistance.
While other forms of celebratory contact—like the “low five”—had existed in African American communities for decades, the modern high five as we know it today traces its origin to that single moment in 1977 between Baker and Burke.
More than four decades later, the high five remains one of the most enduring symbols of camaraderie in sports and everyday life. And it all started with one home run, one outstretched hand, and one perfect slap.
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