Within the last decade or so major league baseball stadiums have piped in player-selected songs when the batter approaches the batters box. The practice then spread to the high school level. When my son played varsity ball as a junior I noticed to my chagrin that all but two of the players chose a song of the hip hop variety. One teammate selected a Red Hot Chili Peppers song while my son, whose mind was properly molded, strode to the plate with the speakers playing “Trampled Under Foot” by Led Zeppelin. Specifically, the unusual passage that begins at the 2:15 mark. In his senior year, only my son chose a rock song, i.e. the drum solo from Opeth’s “White Cluster.”
Last weekend I went to pick him up at the University of Illinois. After packing the SUV we attended the U of I v. Nebraska baseball game. At the time, The Illini had a 26 game win streak and were ranked #2 in the nation. The Illini are composed of a bunch of white kids from the Chicago suburbs and downstate Illinois. Illinois also plays walk-up songs, and I learned of a new musical genre that weekend: trap. Trap is computer software generated music that does not generally contain vocals. My son deplores trap. Illinois players walked up to trap, country, and hip hop, and that was the order of popularity. Not one chose rock.
My family attended Paul Konerko Appreciation Night on Saturday. Former first baseman Konerko retired at the end of last year and ranks highly in numerous offensive categories for the White Sox. White Sox batters primarily walk up to Latin music or hip hop. There are two recent players who did not. Gordon Beckham, since his rookie year, has chosen “Your Love” by The Outfield. And for as long as I can remember, Konerko strode to the plate with Metallica’s “Harvester of Sorrow” rocking the masses. The song hails from And Justice for All, which also contains the song “One,” a tune which was made into my favorite music video ever. “One” (below) is based on footage from the film (book) Johnny Got His Gun by 1950’s blacklisted author, Dalton Trumbo.
Us rockers are a smallish group these days.
