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It's horrible. And it's the same pre-recorded horrible in every stadium. Playing the handclaps from the opening of Blondie's "Heart of Glass" (FAIL: too fast for people to clap along) or Harry Belafonte's "Dayyyyy-ohhh!"... I mean, whose idea WAS this? Pre-recorded musical soundbites have replaced in-stadium performed spontaneity. I think you probably have to be old enough to remember when each park had it's own organist to really know what's missing. Plus, as others have mentioned above, it's just TOO FRIGGIN' LOUD. Going to the ballpark used to be a pleasant experience that was centered, by and large, on the game. Now, it seems like the experience is crafted and aimed at engaging and attracting the casual fan (and their money). It sucks, and the music is just part of it.

One thing you guys didn't touch on, that I love at the ball game is the use of musical puns. The other day I was at a Cyclones game; the pitcher, catcher and third baseman had a little conference on the mound and the p.a. guy played a few bars of the theme song to the t.v. show "Three's Company". My wife and I looked at each other, we may have been the only ones in the stadium who got the pun. I remember a Yankees game when utility infielder Miguel Cairo got a walk and the p.a. played "Walk Like An Egytioan". I hear them all the time and they're fun to notice.

id rather listen to cotten eye joe than god bless america.

We're gonna win Twins, We're gonna Score!!!!!

Way to go, Joel Meyer!

I would much rather listen to God Bless America during the seventh inning stretch than Cotton Eyed Joe...

I love it. Yes deities bless America, gonzo visuals and dumbed down mega-tainment is all part of the coming storm - see the movie Idiocracy for the inevitable end. :) But on the guilty other side, it's kinda fun to hear the "krank 'em up" personal songs when the Braves (America's Team, remember) come up to bat to hammer on the Mets. Sorry y'all!

can someone please explain the Fenway Park tradition of singing "Sweet Caroline"? I also think it's a regional thing, they also often end up by playing the Standells "Dirty Water"

Is there really a necessity for all the noise? its no wonder no one knows what going on during the game, you are constantly distracted. I grew up going to yankee stadium and at that time it was just an organist.

I think that you are misinformed about Delgado. As I understand it, he did not leave the dugout during "God Bless America" as a protest to weapons testing on beach in Puerto Rico.

Dudes-- Cotton-Eyed Joe is actually an old traditional song, like Civil War era. That doesn't make the Rednex version make me want to stab myself in the eye any less, but you know, fair's fair.

For the record: Cotton Eye Joe is originally a traditional American Folk song... before that horrible band defiled it.

You can find Smithsonian Folkways recordings of it.

delgado didnt stand for gba out of protest of the americas policy of bombing puerto rico and using the island for military experiments. so there was a reason for his protest.

New York fans definitely need a spark to cheer for their teams, and they're more likely to boo than cheer - so the encouragement and music is welcome. The music probably keeps everyone together and in the same spirits, as opposed to those crazy soccer fans in England who are so unruly and end up beating each other up, and sometimes killing each other over a game. The music and sounds keep the game in a positive, cheery spirit!

cotton eyed joe comes after 7th inning stretch now. 7th inning is gz*d bless america followed by take me out to ballpark...

all yankee games end with new york new york win or lose

ted

Your guest pointed out that the teams don't care that much about the older fans who really love the game, that all they really care about is the family of four with a 7-year old dancing in her seat to the sound of Kelley Clarkson. But will those young "fans" who are so delighted by all the distractions that really have nothing to do with the game later go on to become lifelong fans who later bring their families? Is this a short-sighted strategy?

chalk this up to americans' need for everything in which they engage to be "extreme". oy.

I'm with the last caller - 10 minute one syllable forced vibratos on the Anthem are unnecessary.

The only sports I could stand to watch of the 2008 Olympics were the obscure ones that aired late at night because they mercifully spared us from the constant drivel of NBC commentators.

Think of a baseball game without amplified songs as a minimalist soundscape.

Ads have been a part of baseball since the beginning. The Green Monster at Fenway Park was originally covered in ads.

The "God Bless America" tradition in the 7th inning stretch started with 9/11 and the police officer who used to sing... he was a tenor I forget his name... but it's gotten tired and I agree with Dan from NJ. It's too much.

I don't want non-stop music at ballparks any more than I want constant crowd noise at a string quartet concert.

Must our entire culture be homogenized?

the rickety infrastructure that is the expensive new yankees stadium provided a more sane experience when the sound system conked out halfway through the second game of the season this year. i could have done with some announcing, but didn't miss YMCA at all.

What about "God Bless" america? I can't believe you didn't mention that.

I'd prefer just the organ, but the thing I don't like about the music is the volume. If the music is too loud for me to hear the beer vendor there's a problem.

I've been to the US Open for both golf and tennis many times and somehow they manage to conduct a gripping, athletic event without blowing my eardrums out.

the attendance problem is the cost of tickets, more than anything. pop music clips are not going to bring them in. complete b.s.

oh and why are we still listening to g*d bless america during 7th inning stretch.
lose that too.

ted

sm--indeed, so amusing to watch otherwise butch, straight, white men gyrate to glitter!

I want the 7th inning stretch back!

I honor America at the beginning of every game. Come the middle of the 7th I just want to "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" not "God Bless America". A place for everything and everything in its place. The 7th inning stretch is not the place for that kind of solemn remembrance.

Dan

Organ is awesome...especially for suspense

It's annoying when the songs are used so often as to become tired cliches. The alternative/"new prog" band Muse has two songs that are on the verge of joining the ranks of Queen's "We Are the Champions" -- "Knights of Cydonia" and "Invincible," both of them bombastic anthems with lyrics about overcoming the odds to survive or prevail ("...together we're invincible!")

As for walk-up songs, the Chicago Bears' kickoff return specialist Devin Hester became totally identified with the "Soulja Boy" song from a few years back. If the price I have to pay to see him rack up more spectacular returns is to keep hearing that song this fall, then I'm happily resigned to the inevitable.

I am generally not a fan of music at the ballpark. It was a shame when they added the music at Fenway. However, the music for closers is the one instance that is really great. It is the drama and theatrics of Trevor Hoffman slowly walking out to Hells Bells or Rivera to Enter Sandman that is just not the same in the other game contexts.

i mourn the demise of real organ players, who managed to rev up sporting event crowds for generations (shout out to nancy faust, former organist for the cubs, blackhawks, and mn north stars!). the current barrage of sound effects and pop music is annoying beyond belief.

oops - comment glitch! sorry for multiple posts.

I'm always amused when average jocks enthusiastically shout "HEEEEY!" along with...Gary Glitter!

music is fine especially for the players as they enter from the bullpen or go to bat, BUT what is with the stoopid videos like the spartan one which i hate, the rocky one and some other ridiculous video of inspiration. lose the videos yankee stadium.

the music from queen came from english futbol.

ted

Im a traditionalist, but i love the songs they play at the stadium. there are definitely moments where it helps the adrenaline flow. but what i like most of all is when the music is used to make fun of the other team. for instance, during the subways series at shea, when mike myers of the yankees came in from the bullpen, the mets would play the austin powers song (mike myers). whereas in yankee stadium, maybe they wouldve played a more intimidating song, like halloween (mike myers).

theres a lot of subtley funny moments that the music helps with at the ballpark.

I'm always amused when average jocks enthusiastically shout "HEY!" along with...Gary Glitter.

I don't care what music they play- just please turn it down.
My ears were ringing after I left a recent Mets game!

Mozart, Beethoven and Bach of our time? Give me a break! I go to 20 something games a year between the two NY teams, and I'd much rather hear the real Mozart, Beethoven or Bach than that garbage. I came to watch a baseball game, not accelerate the deterioration of my hearing.

On a semi-related note, I'd much prefer that if the Yankees have to play God Bless America at every game, they replace the current version with one the calliope plays outside the stadium before game time.

Ok... as a bit of an antidote to that,

My beloved Minnesota Vikings are playing Led Zepplin's "Immigrant Song" at kickoff; absolutely awesome!

So there you have two sides of the coin from one listener.

Peter

The constant barrage of noise at any stadium is just that; noise. It is an annoyance. It makes me want to kill.

It's definitely distracting. Baseball is so rooted in tradition, and it's so much about the poetry of the sport, who wants to hear slick commercial pop pablum?

And don't get me started about "God Bless America" during the 7th Inning Stretch.

We went to a Mets game the other day, and it was a near constant barrage from well before the game until we left Citi Field.

I fondly recalled my astonishment at my first English Premier league match. There was no music, no sound effects, and the sound of the crowd was this rippling and astonishing living thing. Swelling and ebbing. The sound was as much a player as those on the field.

Why can't we have that in baseball?