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Well it sure looks like Boston slugger Manny Ramirez has touched off a bit of controversy by requesting to have the rap song "I Get High" played prior to his at-bats! Not only does the song glorify drug use, it also contains a profanity (dealing with shall we say "maternal urges"?) that was broadcast over the Fenway Park sound system as the song played well beyond it's intended length as Manny waited to bat leading off an inning. If you ask me, I think this whole uproar over rap music is just plain Ludacris! (sorry, bad rap pun, hope most of you got that!) As a result of this controversy, the Red Sox are contemplating no longer playing music of any kind before a player comes up to bat. Personally I think we're over-reacting here! For those of you unfamiliar with the lyrics, here's a sampling from the song's first verse, one line at a time, followed by the Commish's translation as to what they really mean .
See? Innocent enough song once you translate it, isn't it? And one more thing, how come all rappers have to mention their name (Styles P in this one) in each of their songs in the angry context of "you got a problem with {insert rapper name/initials/both here}"? You never hear that in pop songs, do you? "Raindrops keep falling on my head, and my name is Bacharach and I wish you were dead"? Guess that's another theme for an off-season music column Now all this has got me thinking. What kind of music would some of the old-time ball players have as their "pre at-bat" music? Well we'd have to start off with Babe Ruth's selection of Dire Straits' "The Sultans of Swing". Next would be Hank Aaron, who could choose from "If I Had A Hammer" or "I've Got You Babe" after hitting his 715th career homer. A little closer to the present time, Ron Hunt and Don Baylor would most definitely use Britney Spears' "Hit Me Baby One More Time". For Luis Polonia, what would be more fitting than Winger's heavy metal classic, "(She's Only) Seventeen"? Although that might be overstating the issue by about four years or so Pete Rose could choose from Kenny Rogers' "The Gambler" and Eminem's "The Real Slim Shady". Buck Weaver and the boys from the 1919 Black Sox could've left the on-deck circle to the strains of Coolio's "Gangsta Paradise". And let's really hope that the Red Sox rethink their position on players being able to select their own music so that many, many years from now, Teddy Ballgame, as he steps to the plate for the first time after his return from cryogenic isolation, will be able to choose from Foreigner's "Cold As Ice", the J. Geils Band's "Freeze Frame" or Vanilla Ice's monster hit "Ice Ice Baby". And finally, why don't pitchers have entrance music? Because, if they did, you just know David Wells would now have to change his theme to "All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth"! I could write another two paragraphs on this one, but I'm running out of space. Perhaps next column 'til next week
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