If you had to guess when the high five was invented what would you say? Please take a moment to think about this before you read the next bit here. I’ll actually spell out the answer so you don’t accidentally read the number. It was in nineteen seventy seven. Forty nine years ago. The high five is younger than Amy Adams (Nightbitch).

I thought for sure it would be ancient. Cavemen slapping high fives after they saw a cool cave. Or maybe 2000 years old. Jesus high fiving a disciple after they did unto others as they would do unto themself. Or at least it would be 500 years old. I don’t know a historical reference from 500 years ago so imagine what you think a dude would look like then and fill in that blank. Probably a guy wearing a kind of hat they don’t make any more.

At the very least I thought it would be a jazz age thing. When a guy tooted out a good riff on his horn, his friend would say gimme some skin and they’d high five. I actually looked that up and that did happen, but they were low fives. Almost impossible to imagine that low fives were invented first, but it’s fact.

Nope, the high five was invented in 1977 by baseball legend Dusty Baker, after hitting a home run for the Los Angeles Dodgers. He hit a home run and got so excited about it, he held his hand up and his friend Glenn Burke knew what that meant. It meant slap it. And he did.

This piece is in Recommend If You Like The Baseball Issue Summer 2026. You can find physical copies in bars, cafes and stores in Chicago and Washington, D.C. The newspaper is available for purchase here. 

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