It's #NationalHugDay, and no sport has a more storied history of hugging than baseball. Here are 10 of the game's most memorable embraces:
Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig
As SweetSpot's David Schoenfield noted in 2011, "Babe Ruth invented the baseball hug. He had the biggest hugs of all time. Nobody hugged 'em like the Babe. He once called his own hug." But no embrace was bigger than the one the Bambino gave the Iron Horse at Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day on July 4, 1939. It ended five years of estrangement between the two Yankees greats and marked a moment of reconciliation and forgiveness between two old friends. Gehrig died of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) less than two years later.
Yogi Berra and Don Larsen
The exuberant Yankees catcher (8) made victory hugs a quintessential part of the game's celebration. And no embrace was more iconic than the one between Berra and batterymate Don Larsen following Game 5 of the 1956 World Series. Berra was on the receiving end of Larsen's perfect game. After the final pitch, the diminutive backstop leapt into Larsen's arms to celebrate, creating one of baseball's most iconic and enduring images.
Pee Wee Reese, Jackie Robinson and Preacher Rowe
There is some debate about whether Reese, a white southerner, really put his arm around Robinson, baseball's first African-American player, in a show of support and rebuke to racists before a game during Robinson's rookie season in 1947. But there's no doubt that the two Hall of Famers were lifelong friends -- shown here celebrating with pitcher Preacher Rowe after the Brooklyn Dodgers beat the rival Yankees in Game 3 of the 1952 World Series.
Jerry Grote and Jerry Koosman
The 1969 "Miracle Mets" pulled off one of the greatest upsets in postseason history when they beat the heavily favored Baltimore Orioles in five games to win the franchise's first World Series title. And lefty Jerry Koosman -- who was less celebrated than his future Hall of Fame teammate, Tom Seaver, but won all six postseason games he started for the franchise -- tossed a complete game in the clincher. His celebration was just as Amazin'. After he got future Mets manager Davey Johnson to fly out to left for the final out, Koosman leapt into the arms of catcher Jerry Grote and didn't let go.
Hank and Estella Aaron
On April 8, 1974, Hank Aaron launched Al Downing's 1-0 pitch into the stands in Atlanta and passed Babe Ruth as baseball's Home Run King. Although her son was mobbed by his teammates after he crossed home plate, Aaron's mother, Estella, made a beeline through the crowd, grabbed him and squeezed so hard that Aaron could barely breathe. "Good Lord," he wrote in his autobiography. "I didn't know Mama was so strong." Fearful of threats that said if Aaron broke the record he would never make it to home plate alive, Estella figured that if her son was going to be shot by a sniper they'd have to shoot her first. "With any luck, I would die with him," she said later. "Let me go down with him."
Bret Saberhagen and George Brett
George Brett has said that "hugging Bret Saberhagen on the mound in 1985" was a career highlight. On Oct. 27, 1985, the third baseman gathered up the right-hander -- who had just pitched a five-hit, complete-game shutout to give the Royals the World Series crown over the St. Louis Cardinals -- in one of the most high-spirited hugs in K.C. (and baseball) history.
Barry and Nikolai Bonds
Not everyone was happy to see Barry Bonds tie (and eventually break) Aaron's career home run record in 2007. But his son Nikolai -- who served as the San Francisco Giants' bat boy that season -- certainly was. Father and son celebrated together on Aug. 4 after Bonds blasted No. 755, a second-inning leadoff shot to left field in San Diego's Petco Park. Nikolai later said that while his dad isn't perfect, he "has the biggest heart in the world."
Buster Posey and Sergio Romo
Catcher Buster Posey has been part of all three of the World Series championships that the Giants have won since 2010. Each title run ended with Posey enthusiastically embracing a different pitcher -- in 2012 it was Sergio Romo's turn -- and those exuberant #BusterHugs became a social media phenomenon. Will he end 2016 with another even-year, title-clinching clinch?
David Ortiz and Koji Uehara
No one is better at giving bear hugs than Big Papi. Just ask Red Sox closer Koji Uehara. Their unlikely bromance has led to some memorable celebratory squeezes, particularly the one after the Red Sox won the 2013 World Series.
Albert Pujols and Joc and Champ Pederson
After losing to Joc Pederson in the semifinals of the 2015 Home Run Derby in Cincinnati, Albert Pujols pulled Pederson in for what looked like a typical bro-hug. But that wasn't the end of it: Pujols spotted Pederson's brother, Champ, and embraced him too. Champ Pederson has Down syndrome, as does Pujols' oldest child, Isabella. Champ and the Angels' first baseman became friends through their work with The Pujols Family Foundation, which helps people -- children in particular -- with Down syndrome and other disabilities.