Good morning, baseball fans!
As someone who has been collecting music electronically for their entire adult life, I have amassed quite a vast collection of random songs over the years. Occasionally, I’ll just put my entire collection on shuffle for a few weeks to see what comes up and last night, I shuffled upon some Oracle Park classics. So I thought we could talk about that today.
I want to do my personal ranking of songs that make me think of the ballpark. I’m not just talking about “Bye Bye Baby”
or “I Left My Heart In San Francisco,” though those are absolutely the most iconic Oracle Park songs. They’re just a bit on the nose. So I’m going with a few that remind me of my own personal experiences at the ballpark over the years.
5. “Lights” – Ellie Goulding
I don’t remember if there was a particular scenario in which this song was played at the park, but it was an absolute staple for many years (if not still). So it’s a song that always reminds me of night games.
4. “Song 2” – Blur
This one might be a bit of a cop-out, because I feel like every live event uses this song. Kind of like “Seven Nation Army” from the White Stripes. It’s kind of become synonymous with pumping up a crowd.
3. “The Walker” – Fitz and the Tantrums
This is actually the song that inspired this post. I can’t remember if they used the song more in promotions or during games. But this is a song that I don’t know that I would have on my phone if not for the Giants using it all the time for several years.
2. “Smoke on the Water” – Deep Purple
This is, of course, another song that gets used a lot at live sporting events. However, this one is inextricably tied to my first memories of the ballpark from when my dad used to take me to games in high school because this song was the sound of a game about to be won. Why is that? Because it meant Robb Nen was about to enter the game.
1. “Unwell” – Matchbox 20
This is number one for me because it’s the song that was always played after games in my teens and 20s. I don’t know if it was the song they played when the team lost, or if it was just the standard post-game song. But every time I hear this song, I always recall being stuck in the post-game bathroom line at the ballpark, high on sugar and live baseball, and happy as could be.
What songs remind you of Oracle Park?
What time do the Giants play today?
The Giants wrap up this three-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks this afternoon at 12:40 p.m. PT.
