Soundtrack to a season

One of my many Walter Mittyesque fantasies growing up involved the movies. I loved and still do get a huge kick about the little things in a movie, particularly the right song setting the mood for a scene. Combine that with a youth where all available money was spent on compact discs, and you got a teenage weirdo who made a lot of mixtapes

Some of the things I love about baseball are the little quirks that set it apart from other sports. One of those quirks is players having their own music whether for coming to bat, or entering the game to pitch. So I thought I’d take a trip back to my mixtape days and give some Tigers (except for Victor Martinez, as he will always have #VMartatBatMusic) a song to call their own. So here we go:

Ryan Raburn – “Y Control” by Yeah Yeah Yeahs  This is for all those MLivers that just can’t seem to get the name right.

Austin Jackson – “Jump, Jive, and Wail” by Bryan Setzer Orchestra. I figure some swing music would be best for A-Jax

Alex Avila – “Iron Man” by Black Sabbath. Alex already has one of the best at-bat songs, but I felt he needed a song to fit his spark inducing properties

Justin Verlander – “Search and Destroy” by The Stooges. Because he’s a no-walking Tiger with an arm full of napalm.

Jim Leyland – “Cigarettes and Alcohol” by Oasis. Only because they don’t have a song called Cigarettes and Twinkies

Miguel Cabrera – “My Hero” by Foo Fighters. Hits balls faster than speeding bullets, more powerful than a locomotive, able to hit over tall buildings, Miguel is the closest thing to Superman in an Old English D

Doug Fister – “Complete Control” by The Clash. If he has it, we’ll have a full season of last year’s late season run

Brandon Inge – “Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want”  by The Smiths. For the guy that’s been replaced by Pudge Rodriguez, Miguel Cabrera (twice) and the hall of fame combo of Don Kelly and Wilson Betemit, his plea to be given yet another opportunity has been granted

Phil Coke  – “Cult Of Personality” by Living Colour. While his current Nickelback song is totally Phil Coke, I think we can all agree Nickelback is terrible, and this song is a perfect match Coke.

Jose Valverde – “Dance Commander” by Electic Six. He will close out games, he will dance, deal with it.

Prince Fielder – “Father Of Mine” by Everclear. He’s going to have to deal with for the next 8 years, might as well embrace it

David Pauley – “Who Are You” by The Who. I figure this is the question Jim Leyland asks every time he sees him in the clubhouse

Danny Worth – anything by the band Jawbreaker

Octavio Dotel – “I’ve Been Everywhere” by Johnny Cash. This song reads like Octavio’s resume

Rick Porcello – “Just A Little Heat” by the Black Keys. If that sinker drops, just a little heat is all Kid Rick will need

Duane Below, Andy Oliver, Drew Smyly, Jacob Turner, Adam Wilk – “Last Man Standing” by People In Planes. The battle for the 5th spot in the rotation has begun.

So there you go, I’m sure there’s more (like a David Bowie song for Max Scherzer), but that’s for another time