Notes for Future Baseball Historians: Entrance Tunes Make the Encyclopedia

Back in the day, it was a mainstay of every household that emphasized (or aspired to) some level of intellectualism: the venerable Encyclopædia Britannica. We had the full set (and the year supplements) -- and it was just there, from the beginning, from the time I became conscious of such things.

It contained all knowledge. Then, in the 1970s and 1980s, some noteworthy books came along that challenged that notion. There was The Catalog of Cool, The Whole Earth Catalog, Our Bodies, Ourselves, and Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* But Were Afraid to Ask, for example.

But now we've got Wikipedia, which trumps the Encyclopædia Britannica, because it's more complete. It includes cool stuff! At some point, the good Britannica folks in Chicago will catch up.

The above is a long-winded introduction to a very cool article I found in Wikipedia, entitled, simply enough, "List of baseball entrance music."

What a wonderful idea.

Have fun perusing the entire list on your own. Some things struck me as ... odd or interesting.

Reds centerfielder Ryan Freel enters to "Tom's Diner," by Suzanne Vega. Maybe the most mellow song on the list. And it's just surprising that it's on any major leaguer's playlist:

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Hideki Matsui is one homesick man. There's a few things he could do about this (besides going home). He could enter to some familiar Japanese tunes. Or he could let everyone know he'd prefer that Yankee Stadium be relocated on a site close to the Tokyo Dome. He prefers the latter, by coming to bat to the sounds of "Get Back," and "Day Tripper" by the Beatles and Led Zep's "Immigrant Song."

Nationals centerfielder Ryan Langerhans, who's making the Mendoza Line look lofty, brings music theory into the mix, according to Wikipedia. He enters to Black Sabbath's "Iron Man" because "the opening chord sequence matches the syllables in his name." Which is true:

Maybe he should consider changing, at least briefly, to "Let's Not Talk About It," by ... The Mendoza Line.

Finally, and simply, a list of the Zen men, who request (or have requested, in the past) they come to bat to some peace and quiet:

• Moises Alou


• Garret Anderson


• Adrian Beltre


• Hank Blalock


• Brad Fullmer


• Kevin Kouzmanoff


• Jose Molina


• Bernie Williams

Comments

[B.E. Earl]

My current favorite entrance tune is "Better Man" by Pearl Jam for Wilson Betemit.

Nice play on his name.