Where Music Means Something

As has become the custom around these parts, the first full workout of Spring Training is accompanied by a little ritual called “The Soundtrack of Life”, a detailed explanation of which can be found here. If you don’t want to get too deep into it, just look at it as one man’s humble suggestions for what songs each Indian should bring with them to the plate or the mound down at the corner of Carnegie and Ontario.

After considering embedding all of the videos (now that I know how), I’m bailing on it as it will probably make the page load time quadruple and some of the linked videos aren’t exactly…um…PG. Regardless, the link for each song then is actually on the player and song title.

Without further ado, I hope that you enjoy for “The Soundtrack of Life, v.2009”:
Grady Sizemore – “Superman Theme” by John Williams
Forget humility, forget keeping your head down…it’s time to acknowledge that Grady could, in fact, be a superhero and what better way is there to step to the plate than to the “Superman Theme”?

Mark DeRosa – “The Heart of Rock and Roll” by Huey Lewis and The News
Playing off of the fact that the nickname bestowed on him last year was “The Pulse” (after an irregular heartbeat sent him to the hospital in Spring Training last year), how about embracing the line that all Clevelanders know in this classic from HL&TN…“the heart of Rock and Roll, the heart of Rock and Roll is still beatin’…in Cleveland.”
And the crowd goes wild.

Victor Martinez – “Back in the Saddle” by Aerosmith
Ignore, if you will, that Aerosmith is from Boston and focus instead on Victor marching to the plate to that intro, culminating in the guttural “I’M BACK” from Steven Tyler. After the 2008 that El Capitán went through, I think it’s pretty fitting.

Travis Hafner – “Broken Wings” by Mr. Mister
You can almost hear me screaming from the Mezzanine (AKA Pronkville) for my section’s namesake to “take these broken wings and learn to fly again”.
Please?

Jhonny Peralta – “Easy Like Sunday Morning” by The Commodores
Is it me, or does mellowness just ooze out of Jhonny? What song gets that aura across better than Lionel and the boys just maxin’ and relaxin’?

Shin-Soo Choo – “Choo Choo” by Arctic Monkeys
As much as I enjoyed The BLC coming out to Chamillionaire’s “Ridin’ Dirty” last year, let’s play up the obviousness of his name without devolving into just a train whistle blowing. While I was tempted to incorporate the Quad City DJ’s in here (5 bonus points if you get that without a link) or even the old Big League Chew TV ad, we’ll save those for when he’s bashing doubles off the wall or when he’s gunning runners from RF.

Ryan Garko – “Hold On” by Wilson Phillips
With Victor likely to take AB away from him, with LaPorta in AAA, with Mills and maybe Weglarz in AA, maybe Garko can find some peace from the girls of Wilson Phillips to “hold on for one more day”...while patrolling LF.

Ben Francisco – “Me Against the World” by Tupac
With everyone so intent of replacing The Frisco Kid in LF at some point in 2009, maybe Francisco will take the approach that nobody’s coming to take his spot because he isn’t giving it up.
Certainly would be nice…

Kelly Shoppach – “La Grange” by ZZ Top
The thumper from Fort Worth gets the best guitar riff (in my opinion) from that little outfit from the Lone Star State. What were you expecting, the sound of a ShopVac?

Asdrubal Cabrera – “Abacab” by Genesis
While I’m not at all for the trend in nicknames that simply result from a player’s first and last name (you’ll never see V-Mart in these parts), the similarities between the young Venezuelan’s name and the Genesis anthem are just too striking to pass up.

Jamey Carroll – “Working Man” by Rush
Nothing fancy or exciting about Carroll, who just brings his lunch pail to work and does what the Indians ask of him. Plus the performance by Rush is from a show in Cleveland…3 years before I was even born.

Josh Barfield – “Sitting, Waiting, Wishing” by Jack Johnson
An anthem for the player who figures to be on the team…if not necessarily on the field…or in the batter’s box, with no discernable path back into the Indians’ plans anytime soon.

David Dellucci – “Promise Me You’ll Remember” by Harry Connick, Jr.
Apparently, this is the love theme to “The Godfather 3”, so if The Looch thinks he can keep coming out to the fantastic “Godfather Waltz” after the last couple of years, he has another thing coming. Performances like his 2007 and 2008 don’t give him “The Godfather Waltz”, they give him this.

Andy Marte – “Whipping Post” by The Allman Brothers Band
No, Andy’s not going to see an AB with the Indians to make this happen, but this HAS to be how he was feeling over the past year, watching Jamey Carroll take playing time away from him.
Whipping Post…Bench…call it what you like.

C.P. Lee – “When the Levee Breaks” by Led Zeppelin
The methodical drumming of John Bonham at the beginning of this song just reminds me of the workmanlike approach that Clifton (a Zeppelin fan) takes to hammering the strike zone. All I can think of with each pound by Bonham is another strike hitting Shoppach’s glove.

Fausto Carmona – “Hold On Loosely” by 38 Special
After reading Victor’s quote in the Buster Olney piece earlier this week that Fausto has ridiculously filthy stuff when he’s not trying (actually SPECIFICALLY when he’s not really trying too hard), I first thought that some song by Enya or the like should play when The Focused One takes the mound…you know, to relax him. But this is Cleveland, man, Where Music Means Something, the home of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (despite not really having any real native Clevelanders who qualify as “rock legends”…Michael Stanley doesn’t count), the place where “Born to Run” is played (somewhat ironically) at 5PM on Fridays on MULTIPLE radio stations. We can’t have Enya playing at the ballpark, particularly when Fausto’s going.
Thus, the 38 Special Anthem to remind him that “if you cling to tightly…you’re going to lose it…you’re going to lose control.”

Anthony Reyes – “Dani California” by Red Hot Chili Peppers
The USC product gets to bring some Left Coast to the North Coast, along with his flat bill and socks.

Carl Pavano – “Fragile” by Sting
Sure, it’s a dig and about as far as you can get from an intimidating song or one that inspires confidence…but isn’t that kind of the point?

Aaron Laffey – “Crazy Game of Poker” by O.A.R.
In the interest of full disclosure, I’ve been sitting on this one for about a year, ever since I saw that Laffey’s favorite band (in the 2008 Media Guide at least) is O.A.R., a band with some Ohio roots that developed a following when I was in college and has matured nicely since then.
If you’re not familiar with it, sit through the intro in the link as “Crazy Game of Poker” is a pretty great song, particularly for the end of a wedding reception. Just trust me that it is.

Jake Westbrook – “Rearviewmirror” by Pearl Jam
Let’s see…since signing his contract extension with the Indians, Jake has started all of 30 games in two seasons and doesn’t figure to come back (optimistically) until after the All-Star Break. Think he’s trying to look ahead, instead of behind him?

Jeremy Sowers – “Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” – U2
Extra velocity, maybe a change-up, maybe better location?
At this point, who knows if Sowers v.2006 will ever come back, but this is a pretty good guess at what he’s thinking.

Zach Jackson – “Friends Forever” by Zack Attack
While the clip doesn’t show the actual Zack Attack lip-synching performance of “Friends Forever” (I simply can’t find it though the montage is pretty sweet), just know that this is the whole basis for Zach Jackson being called Zach Attack…an episode of “Saved By The Bell”.

Dave Huff – “The Next Episode” by Dr. Dre
The tallest whitecap at the forefront of the next “wave of arms” coming from the Minors merits Snoop and Dre being played over the speakers at Progressive Field…cleaned up of course.

Kerry Wood – “Stranglehold” by Ted Nugent
While I’ve heard that Wood has came out to “Welcome to the Jungle” while with the Cubs, it’s time for him to distance himself from Eric Gagne, Jim Rome, and Axl Rose in one fell swoop. Coming out to this little ditty, “here I come again now, baby…”

Jensen Lewis – “The Stomp” by The Hives
Embracing the notion that Jensen Lewis should be called “Stomp” because of the violence that is his left leg hitting the mound in his follow-through, here’s a nice little riff from the soundtrack of Guy Ritchie’s “RocknRolla” by The Hives.

Rafael Perez – “Icky Thump” by The White Stripes
For the player who was perhaps the most consistently dominant performer for the Indians’ pitching staff (outside of a guy whose season merited some hardware), it’s time for him to get a solid guitar riff to accompany him in from the pen.
Jack White…at your service.

Rafael Betancourt – “Night Court Theme” by Jack Elliot
If the Indians are truly embracing this whole “Court Is In Session” for Rocky, let’s at least hold off on that dominance comes along with it, at least for a little bit. Instead, how about some nice horns and a quick blast from the past with Harry, Dan, Bull, and the gang.

Joe Smith – “Right Now” by Van Halen
Truthfully, I know very little about Joe Smith other than that he thrives as a RHP against RH batters. In lieu of any real other information and having never seen him then, a song with the word “right” in it is as good as I’ve got.

Masa Kobayashi – “Handle With Care” by The Traveling Wilburys
Assuming that Masa has no idea what the name of this song is (and “Handle With Care” is not exactly a line that you even pick up as Tom, Roy, George, and Bob sing), it should be fine to play as a warning that Kobayashi’s usage for 2009 should be closely monitored after we saw what happened in 2009. As a bonus, here’s a cover of the song by Jenny Lewis (no, not the one that sits in the bullpen with Masa) and Feist, which is also pretty solid.

Adam Miller – “Back in Black” by AC/DC
Yes, it’s presumptuous given that some of this is based on reports from the Dominican Winter League; but, he’s back and instead of easing him into the bullpen as an intimidating presence coming to the mind, let’s just dispense with the politeness and let the guitar blast.

Fire up iTunes and get your own mix going for home…these are already added in mine.