When the Chicago Cubs began to use contemporary music snippets to punctuate the walk-up for at-bats, most Cubs fans reacted the same way.
"Wait...what?"
The first time I noticed it was during a nationally-televised MLB on FOX game against the White Sox. So for a day I thought the piped-in tunes were done simply for Fox and the national audience. Because we don't do that sort of thing at Wrigley, right?
Oh, yes. Now we do.
This is a slippery slope, people.
Holy fricking hell, it's terrible.
Only six worse things have happened within the Friendly Confines:
- The Game 6 collapse in the 2003 NLCS.
- The career of Corey Patterson.
- The total team efforts in Games 1 and 2 of the 2008 NLDS.
- Bruce Froemming's "ball" calls on Milt Pappas on what should've been out #27 in his perfect game bid in 1972.
- Lincoln Park resident Chad Donaldson, 25, totally was bummed out after they stopped serving brewskis a half-inning too early when all he wanted was one more beer, dude, on July 26th, 2007 against the Cardinals.
- The College of Coaches.
This dude didn't even make the Top 20.
Let me pre-emptively clarify my position on modernizing Wrigley Field: it's okay to do it. The ads on the outfield walls and dugout roofs? I was okay with it. LED displays in the upper deck displaying pitch speeds and out-of-town scores? Sure, they add to the experience of watching and understanding the game. The Toyota sign? Honestly...not that big of a deal. For the most part, every single one of these modernizations either a) brought in more money for the club, or b) added to the fan experience at Wrigley.
I would even be okay with a Jumbotron at Wrigley, provided it was done in a way that didn't immediately make someone think they're looking at the work of the same genius that dropped a spaceship on Soldier Field.
It makes Wrigley Field feel just like any other stadium in the league. Hey, let's fire off a flashpot and send out some cheerleaders! There's a momentary five-second pause in the action! Pay attention! Pay attention!
Your new fourth-inning stretch entertainment!
Because it's undeniably terrible. And although the online petition crowd hasn't made much progress yet, I suspect this will gain more steam as more fans make their way to the ballpark for their yearly pilgrimages to Clark & Addison.
So why did they do it? It's been reported that Derrek Lee had asked about it during spring training, and the players generally say they like it because it "pumps them up" for their at-bats. My response: the money you make and the desire to win ballgames, divisions, and championships should provide immeasurably more motivation to succeed than 4.6 seconds of Salt-N-Pepa's "Push It".
There is a certain throwback feel to watching a game at Wrigley Field. And as much as our visual cortices have been invaded over the past twenty years, the park still generally looks the same. Probably only 10% of the place looks different than it did in 1984. But this audio assault every single home at-bat makes you feel like you're at any other generic ballpark, like the Cell: not a bad park, but nothing distinctive about it. At all.
I want the next generation of Cubs fans to hear the same distinctive sounds of Wrigley that we heard as children. Ditch the Lady Gaga. Or let Gary Pressey give "Pokerface" a shot on the organ.
Otherwise you might as well build a kiddie stadium in the left field bleachers and shoot off fireworks after every home run.
3 Comments
Aisle424 said:
You missed a few:
- Andre Dawson being hit in the face with an Eric Show fastball.
- Mark Prior plowing into Marcus Giles
- Ronnie Woo.
- Will Clark's grand slam off Greg Maddux in the '89 NLCS
- Randy Johnson's 1st start against the Cubs (and Don Wengert) as an Astro after the Cubs traded two #1 draft choice pitchers for Karchner and Heredia at the deadline instead of dealing for Randy.
- Milton Bradley's 2-out adventure against the Twins.
- Any game involving Candy Maldonado, Jose Guzman, Todd Hundley, or Mel Rojas.
That's what I've got off the top of my head, but the music is pretty bad and damaging their brand.
Apparently you have never played a day of an organized sport. The fact that D-Lee specifically asked for it and the others concurred. The fact that EVERY other team does the exact same thing proves that is does help pump up the players. Especially when they are on a team as disappointing as the Cubs. If I were stuck on that team with (at least in the past) owners who could care less about the success of the team, yeah I might need a 4 second snip it of my favorite song to pump me up. Believe it or not there are some players out there, that regardless how much money they make, still want to win and losing really sucks!
Oh and one more thing! Why dont you take that journalism degree you have write about what seriously needs to be done with the Cubs as an organization rather than whether or not D-Lee is walking up to Salt n Peppa or Gary Pressey! As if that had any affect on the lack of success of that travesty we call a bullpen!
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