Kenley Jansen's new entrance music is amazing. When he came into a recent Angels game I was expecting "California Love" — his music from when he closed for the Dodgers from his long and successful tenure in L.A.
I thought his return to SoCal in Orange County meant we'd hear that familiar jam to get the crowd going. Instead, it was "In the Stone" by Earth Wind & Fire. It was awesome. I was at a baseball game and a disco party broke out.
Jansen had a less-than-stellar outing, but I was hooked on this jam. I was at the game with my 7-year-old, and while the dominant storyline was Gunnar Henderson's homer and triple, all we could talk about afterwards was "In the Stone." It's probably been the most played song in my house the last few days.
When I tell the older generation (I guess Gen X would be the group ahead of me) that in Little League, our kids have walkup songs, there's often befuddlement. But music is a vital part of life. And we now have the technology to make music happen wherever we go. No longer do you need to bring a boom box with a cassette or CD player.
We had a recent Little League game that got delayed after we got to the field, and we (the parents) played music to pass the time. Whenever TLC blasted out of our mobile speaker, we really got going. Which then led to conversations about "The Other Guys" (Fantastic and underrated Will Ferrell, Michael Keaton and Mark Wahlberg movie if you've never seen it).
It was a bonding moment for us and probably made us closer as team parents.
The Mets' run in 2024 felt like it was fueled by "OMG" the song by infielder Jose Iglesias. I was super bummed when he wasn't brought back — not because of his defense or offense, but because I loved hearing that song when the Mets played.
Personally, I love how Steve Mayer and his team with the NHL have gone all in on live music since Steve was hired 10 years ago. I've always appreciated what he does and the effort he put into giving hockey a soundtrack. This was something I tried to give as much press as possible when I covered the NHL.
So really, sports and music go together. They're great and lead to lasting bonding moments. I just hope "In the Stone" doesn't get overplayed in my house, but if it does I'm sure we'll eventually find another great song to replace it.