{"id":2996,"date":"2010-10-06T12:38:41","date_gmt":"2010-10-06T16:38:41","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2010-10-10T18:06:03","modified_gmt":"2010-10-10T22:06:03","slug":"2010-alds-rate-a-record","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/2010-alds-rate-a-record\/","title":{"rendered":"2010 ALDS Rate-a-Record: Rays on Mute"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe class='youtube-player youtuber' type='text\/html' width='425' height='355' src='http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/W8CibAuvZM4?rel=0&amp;fs=1&amp;ap=%252526fmt%253D18' webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen frameborder='0'><\/iframe><br \/>\nCovering the Division Series in both leagues is too much for one man, so I offered to relieve Mr. Moderator of the burden of analyzing the walk-up music selections of the four American League contenders: the Tampa Bay Rays, the Minnesota Twins, the Texas Rangers, and the New York Yankees. In doing so, I also hope to steer clear of Mod&#8217;s Rockist <a href=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/index.php\/2010-nlds-rate-a-record\" target=\"_blank\">NLDS analysis<\/a> and pay attention to the relative strengths of the hip-hop and modern-rock selections that many of the sport&#8217;s contestants choose. I don&#8217;t want to harp on this, but it was probably Mod&#8217;s Rockist bent that caused him to overlook the threat of the Yankees against his beloved Phillies in last year&#8217;s World Series.<\/p>\n<p>Let&#8217;s start with a team that was <a href=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/index.php\/2008-world-series-rate-a-record-preview\" target=\"_blank\">covered in depth<\/a> through their 2008 playoff run, the <strong>Tampa Bay Rays<\/strong>, managed by baseball hipster <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/index.php\/2008-world-series-rate-a-record-joe-madd\" target=\"_blank\">Joe Maddon<\/a><\/strong>.<!--more--><br \/>\nI don&#8217;t live near Tampa Bay, or whatever town the Wall-Mart in which that underappreciated Rays team actually plays, so I can&#8217;t tell you from personal experience what walk-up songs the 2010 Rays use. I was expecting to find a relatively accurate list on the Web, as Mr. Moderator and I have easily found for other teams in the postseason &#8211; and as one can even access for a team as irrelevant as the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.federalbaseball.com\/2010\/8\/30\/1658485\/nationals-2010-at-bat-music\" target=\"_blank\">Washington Nationals<\/a>, but clearly the Rays have few true fans other than Dick Vitale, who doesn&#8217;t strike me as the type to blog about walk-up music, and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/topic.php?uid=2204884058&amp;topic=8505\" target=\"_blank\">seven other folks who are wondering why they, too, can&#8217;t find a list of their team&#8217;s walk-up songs<\/a>. (If a walk-up song plays in an empty stadium does it make a sound?) Since we have no idea what the 2010 Rays play while approaching the batter&#8217;s box, let&#8217;s award this ALDS series to their opponents, <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/rangersblog.dallasnews.com\/archives\/2010\/04\/your-official-ranger-walk-up-m.html\" target=\"_blank\">Texas Rangers<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>e5qH-nlS1rc]<br \/>\nThe Rangers did a ton of roster juggling since the beginning of the season, so the list that was <a href=\"http:\/\/rangersblog.dallasnews.com\/archives\/2010\/04\/your-official-ranger-walk-up-m.html\" target=\"_blank\">published in April<\/a> will need some updating. Late-season acquisition <strong>Jorge Cantu<\/strong>, for instance, supposedly uses <a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=qKEm19lMjuQ\" target=\"_blank\">this cool, traditional Mexican song<\/a>. Rangers fans in the Hall are welcome to help out regarding other late-season acquisitions. As for players still on the roster since opening day <strong>Michael Young<\/strong>&#8216;s use of the Beastie Boys&#8217; &#8220;Sure Shot&#8221; should give the team a charge, but what&#8217;s with <strong>Nelson Cruz<\/strong> using a song called &#8220;Prrrrum&#8221; by some Pirates&#8217; fan named Cosculluela, who&#8217;s seen hanging around a strip club? Priorities, Rangers, priorities &#8211; and think about <a href=\"http:\/\/www.inquisitr.com\/wp-content\/josh-hamilton-drunk-photos.jpg\" target=\"_blank\">Josh<\/a>&#8216;s health, will you?<\/p>\n<p><em>PREDICTION:<\/em> The Rangers&#8217; 5-game upset helps us learn more about the walk-up music of all their late-season acquisitions.<\/p>\n<p>The other ALDS series matches the <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/wcco.com\/blogs\/runningblog\/twins.intro.music.2.1794660.html\" target=\"_blank\">Minnesota Twins<\/a><\/strong> vs the defending champion <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/fackyouk.blogspot.com\/2010\/05\/unsolicited-opinions-on-yankees-at-bat.html\" target=\"_blank\">New York Yankees<\/a><\/strong>, who enter this year&#8217;s postseason as a near-favorite wildcard.<\/p>\n<p><iframe class='youtube-player youtuber' type='text\/html' width='425' height='355' src='http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Afo9XH5eHV0?rel=0&amp;fs=1&amp;ap=%252526fmt%253D18' webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen frameborder='0'><\/iframe><br \/>\nThe mighty-might, small-market Twins enter the 2010 postseason revitalized with their occasional set of retro uniforms and a new, outdoor ballpark. It&#8217;s gonna be freezing in late October, as the Twins progress through the ALDS, but the real chill will come from <strong>Michael Cuddyer<\/strong>&#8216;s use of Bassnectar&#8217;s &#8220;Bass Head.&#8221; This is cutting-edge stuff for baseball players, and the Twins can make a claim for being one of this year&#8217;s most cutting-edge teams, with the revolving mix of Southern hip-hop from the <a href=\"http:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/_5L213Ip_Dg4\/Sgz_-K1EDNI\/AAAAAAAAEAw\/PIQdpZW8AN4\/s400\/orlando+hudson.jpg\" target=\"_blank\">unconventional O-Dog<\/a>, <strong>Orlando Hudson<\/strong>, and <strong>Delmon Young<\/strong>&#8216;s use of two previously unreleased Lil&#8217; Wayne songs. What&#8217;s next, a player approaching the plate in German True Stereo? With a few nods to Rockists and other young dudes mixed in (eg, AC\/DC, Metallica, Beastie Boys), the Twins have just about all the bases covered.<\/p>\n<p><iframe class='youtube-player youtuber' type='text\/html' width='425' height='355' src='http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/2RJlYzBhLg4?rel=0&amp;fs=1&amp;ap=%252526fmt%253D18' webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen frameborder='0'><\/iframe><br \/>\nThe Yankees&#8217; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=qKEm19lMjuQ\" target=\"_blank\">uninspired 2009 playlist beat the odds<\/a>, but this year&#8217;s squad has beefed up with some old school rap (<strong>Curtis Granderson<\/strong>&#8216;s use of Africa Bambaataa&#8217;s \u201cLookin\u2019 for the Perfect Beat\u201d), classic Floyd (fleet-footed <strong>Brett Gardner<\/strong>&#8216;s use of &#8220;Run Like Hell&#8221;), and a little Twisted Sister (<strong>Mark Teixeira<\/strong>&#8216;s \u201cI Wanna Rock\u201d). All right, the Twisted Sister tune is as lame as Tex&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/sportige.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/Mark-Teixeira.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><em>golly gee<\/em><\/a> Look and is probably more suited to <a href=\"http:\/\/redstatebluestate.mlblogs.com\/mets%20fan%20streaker.jpg\" target=\"_blank\">Mets&#8217; fans<\/a>, but it adds a little flair to the conservative Yankees&#8217; style.<\/p>\n<p><em>PREDICTION:<\/em> Twins make it interesting for the home crowd in 5 games.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/index.php\/2010-nlds-rate-a-record\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Previously:<\/em> Mr. Moderator analyzes the NLDS playlists.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Covering the Division Series in both leagues is too much for one man, so I offered to relieve Mr. Moderator of the burden of analyzing the walk-up music selections of the four American League contenders: the Tampa Bay Rays, the Minnesota Twins, the Texas Rangers, and the New York Yankees. In doing so, I also <a href='https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/2010-alds-rate-a-record\/' class='excerpt-more'>[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[57],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2996"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2996"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2996\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2996"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2996"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2996"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}