I'm going to reproduce Feinsand's whole list but to add some value, I've linked up each of the songs to a YouTube video and made some snarky comments.
Derek Jeter: “Candy” - Cameo
Position Players
Derek Jeter: “Candy” - Cameo
If you only watch one of these videos, make it this one. It looks like a spoof made by Chappelle's Show.Nick Johnson: “Party in the U.S.A.” - Miley Cyrus
By now, you know that Johnson picked the song because his daughter likes it (and she has shitty taste in music).Mark Teixeira: “I Wanna Rock” - Twisted Sister
A solid, straight forward classic rock tune. Fits Teixeira to a "T".
Alex Rodriguez: “On to the Next One” - Jay-Z
We used this one for a preview earlier this year mostly because I was stuck for ideas and the video is in black and white. It's alright, but I really don't enjoy what Jay-Z's style has devolved into. It seems like he now ends every line with a forced inflection. He's more about rhyming sounds as opposed to earlier in his career when he had more masterful wordplay and a steady, even-keeled delivery.
Robinson Cano: “Run this Town” - Jay-Z
This one also features Rhianna, Kanye West and some real distorted electric guitar. Better tune than the one A-Rod uses but not something I'm going to put on by choice.
Curtis Granderson: “Lookin’ for the Perfect Beat” - Africa Bambaataa
An old school rap song with a video almost as unintentionally hilarious as the one Jeter uses.
Nick Swisher: “Beat Street” - Grand Master Flash
It's got that typical, choppy, Grandmaster Flash "flow" to it. I would expect Swish to have picked something like Creed or Three Doors Down based on his brotasticness, so he gets bonus points for this choice.
[Update: It has been brought to my attention by Joe from River Ave. Blues that Gardner comes up to Run Like Hell and not On The Run as Feinsand said in his post.]
Brett Gardner: “Run Like Hell” - Pink Floyd
Easily my favorite choice out of all of these. Completely appropriate given Gardner's skill set and coming out to any Pink Floyd song is good by me, even if it is off of The Wall.
Randy Winn: “Just Chill” - Jon Young
Jon Young and J. Cash are apparently the highest selling hip hop act in Central Florida!
*Posada and Francisco Cervelli both supplied songs via CD (that are latin-flavored, if I recall correctly) and neither Bonner nor Feinsand were sure what they were called.
Starting Pitchers
Starting Pitchers
CC Sabathia: “Big Poppa” - Notorious B.I.G.
Most obvious choice ever?
A.J. Burnett: “I’m a Man” - Black Strobe
Yes you are, sir. And so is Mike Gundy.
Javier Vazquez: “Until the Whole World Hears” - Casting Crowns
Christian rock. Whatever floats your boat, Javy, just pitch better after it plays.Andy Pettitte: “La Grange” - ZZ Top
Like Teixeira's choice, this one is a staple of classic rock stations nation wide. Can't really go wrong but it's not exactly original.Phil Hughes: “King Nothing” - Metallica
Because of Metallica's dickish views on copyright law you have to sit through a 30 second commercial to watch this one. Feel like doing that? I didn't think so.
I've often thought about what my at bat or warm up music would be and the decision becomes infinitely more complicated by the fact that, as Morgan Ensberg pointed out a while back, hitters are limited to 8 seconds. That's nothing. So the question becomes not "What song is going to get you fired up?" but "What 8 second snippet from a song are you not going to get totally sick of by the end of the first homestand?". That really cuts down on the options.
To make it slightly less impossible and pointless, let's assume that you are a pitcher and you get to choose a song or portion of a song to warm up to, but it can't be longer than 5 minutes. Here's a short list of ones that I would have to try extremely hard to decide between and truncate to the appropriate length:
- The version of Soul Serenade the Allman Brothers played in honor of King Curtis back in 1971.
- Derek Trucks' solo during Desdemona at the Beacon in '03.
- The Fire Inside by Bob Seger because the simple melody in it, and the relentless bass line underneath never fail to stir me up.
- A Phish song. Punch You in the Eye? Julius?
- This Atmopshere tune because I'm a sucker for hip hop with piano and the outro is awesome.
- Feel It by Sam Cooke from the famous Live at the Harlem Square Club show.
- Or pretty much any section of this version of Why Does Love Got To Be So Sad that Derek and the Dominoes played at the Filmore East during a two night stand they did there in October of 1970:
Yours in the comments if you so choose.
Posts
That's an amusing post. I am surprised by Swisher's choice. He strikes me (for no reason in particular) as a "Beastie Boys" kind of guy. Gardy choosing a song from PF is just awesome.
ReplyDeleteIf I had to choose one, I'd probably go for a Stones tune like Street Fighting Man. It'd be an easy melody to translate into an 8 second clip and it's a song appreciated by a wide audience.
This is a lot of fun, Jay. These guys are a trip. I think I laughed a little at Javy's choice. I like the guy just a tad less now.
ReplyDeleteAnd yeah, Swisher surprised me as well.
Now, for you... I think a little Phish is an awesome choice. If you had the crowd serenaded with Punch You in the Eye and got them yelling "HEY!" on cue, that would have to pump you up in a big way.
I would change my last name to 'Wilson', just to get them chanting my entrance music, personally.
And while on the Phish binge, umm...First Tube is pretty cool for a little rock n roll.
But I cant help but think of Led Zeppelin "Immigrant Song" as a great quick hit as I'm headed to the batter's box.
How about a follow-up post about your perceptions of what the Bahston lineup should use...
This is definitely something that I think every guy has thought of at some point. I still think I would settle with the guitar and drum vamp from King Missile's "Detachable Penis".
ReplyDeleteMatt - Street Fightin' Man is a solid one. Might have to work that into a preview before the season is over.
ReplyDeleteJoshua - Good call on both First Tube and Immigrant Song. Both of those would be top notch.
The Boston post would probably take a good bit of work but I think it could be worth it. If I end up going through with it, I'll certainly give you credit for the idea in the post.
Jimmy - Good thing they don't have to display the song title or else that one would be out of the question.
Jim here - Sam Cooke, yeah... how perfect would Bring It On Home to Me be? My up-tempo choice: Lennon, Twist and Shout. O.K., I'm old school. (And old.)
ReplyDeleteGardner surprised me on his final at-bat last night by coming in to "Baba O'Riley" Don't know if he asked for it, or if it was a mistake.
ReplyDeleteI think the Baba O'Riley decision came from the press box. They pump that one in at their discretion during big moments in the game. Since Gardner came up as the potential tying run in the ill-fated rally, that's probably why.
ReplyDelete