Dear reader, life is too short for crap books.

Saturday, October 18, 2008

At-Bat Music: A Moral Question

So, during the odious Game 5 of the NLCS in which our beloved Dodgers had their clocks collectively cleaned, we did find a moment to remark on Casey Blake's choice of at-bat music, as the Bearded One seemed to have selected some sort of emo rocker tune.

This was odd. More research was needed.

But fortunately, an enterprising soul has put together a list of off-beat at-bat music selections throughout MLB. And boy, oh boy, there are some doozies there.

For starters, since it was him that inspired me to track this down: Casey? The Killers? Really?

However, this was not the most egregious song choice on the list. Anyone who gets pumped up by the musical stylings of Creed or Collective Soul does not deserve to have music in their lives. Tom Glavine and Manny Delcarmen, I'm talking to you. And AJ Burnett, "Hangin' Tough?" Are you a 13-year-old girl circa 1990?

But there are some choice selections. Jeremy Sowers of the Cleveland Indians favors the Wilco tune, "Pot Kettle Black," Rich Aurilia of the Giants likes "No Sleep Till Brooklyn," and Jimmy Gobble of the Kansas City Royals has selected "Copperhead Road" by Steve Earle.

However, the best song on the list by far goes to Jed Lowrie of the Boston Red Sox, and it causes me pain to say something nice about the Red Sox, but when your at-bat music is "Teenage Kicks" by The Undertones, all I can say is, sir, you win the prize for being cool.

As for myself, I've given the matter a lot of thought, and if, after the apocalypse, I find myself somehow qualified to play on a Major League team, my at-bat music would be "Wreck My Flow" by The Dirtbombs.

Also, "Debaser" would be cool.

So, what's your at-bat music?

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'd choose "God Moving Over the Face of the Waters" by Moby and try to bliss out the pitcher.

Comrade Dave said...

Since Sowers is a pitcher on an AL team, I imagine that song isn't played very often.

I know that Travis Hafner favors heavy metal, like Motorhead, but that's probably because he's going to end up with an aluminum shoulder before long.

Blake (who I'm a fan of, btw) used the Killers even when he was in Cleveland; they're his favorite band according to the team media guide.

Don't know what I'd pick; I'll wait till the movie comes out.

Brady said...

I think one of Tom Waits' more, uh, Germanic-carnival-barker tunes might put the juju on a pitcher, assuming you lurched to the plate with a three-day's growth of beard wearing a batting helmet adorned with burlesque show matchbooks, reeking of stale gin, and chewing on a stogie.

That, or lure 'em into a sense of overconfident machismo with some Feist, mor maybe just get that "1234" song stuck in his head; he'll never be able to pull of a slider.

Brady said...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OH_EwRjrldc

Thank you, internet.

Comrade Dave said...

So are we all going to be among the literally dozens of people watching the NY/BOS-less Series this year?

Brady said...

Ahyup. Although, really, I'm only doing so in order to complete my set of Postseason Brady-scored Box Scores.

Because overintellectualizing the game isn't enough: I have to bring a binder to the ballpark.

Linkmeister said...

If you were one of those guys who gets a lot of walks, you should probably consider "The Waiting," by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.

Anonymous said...

I don't give a damn about baseball except I really like drinking beer at the games. But my derby intro is Bad Reputation. I called it as soon as we scheduled our first home bout -- like two months ago. Nov 9 -- wish you could be here to watch.

mary_m said...

Lady, you're the coolest. I wish I could be there to watch you kick ass.

Anonymous said...

Anything by the Monks.

Memphis Word Nerd said...

Hmmmm. maybe "Breakfast Club" by Z-Trip? It's a strange choice but baseball makes me think of childhood and summer mornings. It's not inspiring enough for MLB but it's FUN. Remember when baseball was about having fun?

I agree with Brady about Tom Waits, but I can't decide which one. That's the kind of music that you'd play for very drunken baseball.

I guess I'd pick The Ramones ("I Wanna Be Sedated") or if I were the kind of player who could point to the fence, hit a homer over the exact point I indicated and then pimp walk around the bases, I'd pick Parliament ("Flashlight").

Sorry for coming late to the party. I've been reading this blog off and on for a long time ever since Rebecca mentioned it but I've never posted before.

PS- Good song, RA.