Category: baseball

Sweet Caroline,The Ultimate Sports Anthem

Ah, the joys of baseball. The roar of the crowds, the cracks of the bats, and sounds of Sweet Caroline? Yes, one of the many hits from this month’s spotlight musician, Neil Diamond, the short little 3 minute diddy about his love for a girl named Caroline, somehow made its way into the sports universe. Well, actually, the song was inspired by a little girl at the time, the daughter of John F. Kennedy, Caroline, but written for his then wife Marcia. He said he wanted to use a name with three syllables and went with Caroline.

Now, when you think of sports anthems, you think of songs that get you and the athletes hyped up. You think of classics like Queens’ We Are The Champions and We Will Rock You, Guns N Roses’ Welcome to the Jungle, pretty much any AC/DC song ever made, and the list goes on. So why Sweet Caroline? It’s pretty much an upbeat love song. Well, the answer lies in the chorus. After the title lyrics are sung, there’s a three note horn melody that plays. Throughout the many plays of that familiar tune, fans started to have fun with it and decided to sing the notes out “Ba ba ba,” and it caught on. Soon, you had hundreds of thousands of fans nationwide, and perhaps worldwide, singing along with the happy tune as it was getting more airplay in stadiums and ballparks all over. So, what is the origin of the viral sensation?

It looks like the story has two distinct origins. The Carolina Panthers of the NFL would be technically the first team to use the song routinely back in 1996. They played Sweet Caroline  as a victory song after every home game won. The origin story then turns to the MLB and the Boston Redsox, whom, much like the Yankees, have one of the biggest fan bases in baseball. From touching the Green Monster for good luck to eating a Fenway Frank to even singing along to Joy to the World and Dirty Water, Fenway fans are truly one of a kind. One day in 1996, a Fenway employee who was in charge of the music for the day decided to honor her friends’ newborn baby girl, who just happened to be named Caroline by playing what else but Sweet Caroline. The song would be played on occasion until it was made a permanent staple of the Red Sox tradition by their executive vice president, Charles Steinberg. He had seen the gradual effect it had on the fans as they began to sing along and ultimately add the “ba ba ba” in the chorus that would catch on all over the sports world.Now, every middle of the eight inning of every home game, Sweet Caroline is belted out loudly and proudly. Then on Opening Night 2010, Neil Diamond himself led the fans in singing his catchy now immortalized hit tune.Soon, you begin to hear it in New York, in Chicago, Arlington, and every stadium in the country.

From there, the lore grows on. Many colleges begin to adopt the song as well as UFC fighters and boxers. Tyson Fury serenaded his fans in the ring shortly after knocking out his opponent in Las Vegas. It’s fascinating how a simple song about a girl named Caroline would become one of the biggest sports songs and traditions of all time. While the song has no sports like aspects like The Eye of the Tiger or We Are the Champions, the upbeat melody and the positive vibes the pours out makes it a feel good song every time you hear it. It’s like a little moment in time where you realize, win or lose, you’re enjoying the moment with good friends and fans and for a half inning or a timeout or whatever the case is, life is good. So where did this tradition start? I’m not quite sure. Honestly, it could’ve started at multiple places at the same time. Either way, it has become one of the biggest pop culture moments in the modern era, and it’s all thanks to Neil Diamond. Without a great song like his, this wouldn’t have been the craze it has become today.

A Timeless Treasure

As I was thumbing through my Facebook memories, I came across a picture that inspired this blog. It is something I still have to this day, and it is pretty much the reason that I have a passion for the game of baseball to this day. This was one of the highest moments I had after coming off one of the lowest, and I still remember the story and the day I got these autographs.

January 1997. My second and final semester of school. For the last 2 years, I decided to take part of the high school baseball team. Being that I had  no prior experience and did not play little league, I was pretty bad at the sport, but my love of baseball and the fact I had an extracurricular activity was what kept me trying to do the very best I could. I remember the head coach, Mr.  Coach Jacinto, pulled me aside during practice around this time and telling me, “You’re probably not going to play at all this season. I don’t think you’re at that level. If you want you can be a team manager and still be with the team or you can stay on the team as a player but you’re probably not going to play.” As a 17 year old kid with a passion for the game I was heartbroken obviously. Now I knew compared to everyone else, I sucked. I spent more time chasing down balls in warmups that I knew I didn’t come close to being ready, but again the love of the game and the fact that I had built a relationship with a bunch of these guys on the team, I didn’t want to go out like that. My coach gave me some time to think on it and I went home sad and defeated.

A couple of days later, my father called me into his room. While he was reading the paper, he had read about the Texas Rangers baseball team coming to Waco, my hometown, for a meet and greet called the Rangers Caravan. I believe it was held at our convention center. My dad called me into and said, “The Rangers are coming to sign autographs. Do you want to go?” Of course, I knew banquets like that at the time we’re pricey, and I think at the time he had already purchased the tickets, but regardless, this was a huge surprise, and definitely at the time where I needed something to cheer me up. At this time, I had not discussed my baseball situation with my dad, but at that moment, my sadness turned to excitement, and I was ready to go.

Now, back in 1997, there were some big name Rangers. The biggest of was Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez. You also had guys like Juan Gonzalez, Bobby Witt, and Will Clark, who were legends at the time. Coming down to Waco were 3 big names in their own right. There was Mark Mclemore, the Dr of Defense, and probably one of the best second basemen in the major leagues at that point and time. The was Rusty Greer, a favorite of mine, who put it all out there in left field and made some of the most spectacular catches in Rangers history. And then we had left-handed Texas Ranger legend Darren Oliver, who started as a Ranger and would spend 10 of his 20 years in three different stints with Texas. And of course, the general manager of the organization, Doug Melvin, came along as well as a voice that was always the highlight of many summer nights sitting outside with the radio on, the voice of the Texas Rangers, Eric Nadel.

Now given that this was almost 30 years ago I don’t remember too much details, but I remember walking in and seeing walls of tables and chairs lined up nicely and the stage where the players were going to be signing autographs. I also remember being a 6 foot 2 kid, almost a line of kids when it was time to get them. My dad had already purchased a ball and sent me on my way. I rem none of the players spoke to me. They didn’t interact and being the nervous, shy, kid, I didn’t know what to say, but I was star-struck. Here, I was getting autographs from some of my favorite players of my favorite team in sports period. This was the coolest moment of my life and I owe it to my dad because if it weren’t for all those trips to the ballpark, if it wasn’t for seeing them play on TV, I wouldn’t be as big a fan as I am today and these autographs would be just scribbles on a baseball. While these guys are not Hall of Fame players, to me, they played a huge part of my childhood, and I am happy I got the opportunity to be a part of that event.

As for my high school baseball dilemma, that moment helped me to decide what I was going to do. I decided no matter how bad I played, no matter if I never got into a game, no matter what, I wasn’t going to quit. I had so much fun playing with the team and going to practice that I wanted to go out like I came in. If memory serves me right, we had a horrible season, some players left before the season ended, but I had fun putting on the pinstripes and watching the game from the dugout with my classmates and friends. That will always be a fond memory for me in my younger days. I still have that baseball in my room. Every time I see it, it always takes me back to that time and reminds me of just how timeless of a treasure it truly is for me. Some things in life are a constant struggle. Some things never panned out the way you thought they would, but it’s things like these that inspire you to keep going no matter what.