Things you can totally miss even if you do nothing but read crap about baseball all day, even in the winter: Major League Baseball has a new rule that limits batters’ walkup music to no more than 15 seconds.
I learn this by reading about Shane Victorino’s disappointment with the new rule over at WEEI. He has taken to using Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds,” in which the crowd booms in with “Every little things/gonna be alright!” Which comes way past the 15 second mark. Victorino thinks the rule is taking away from the fan experience and that it could impact batters’ rhythms and things.
I’ll admit: being at Game 6 of the World Series and listening to the crowd sing along with Shane and Bob was kind of cool. Maybe even chill-inducing. But (a) I imagine that effect wears off after more than a game, especially when the games aren’t last-game-of-the-World-Series intense; and (b) if everyone did that kind of stuff games would take even longer than they already do.
The lesson: go with punk rock, kids. Those songs are all short and sweet and will get things moving along while still pumping people up.
