(Podcast length - 5:30 mins)
The sport of baseball has been around a long time and that means teams have had a long time to come up with interesting (and sometimes questionable) traditions.
Transcript
1. Who doesn’t love to sing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” during the seventh inning stretch? Legendary Chicago Cubs announcer Harry Caray was the “best” at it. (Meaning he was no Whitney Houston but it was iconic Cubs). After Caray passed away, the Cubs began bringing in celebrity guests to sing the famed song. Some were better than others but at any given home game you could see the likes of Mr. T, actor Vince Vaughn or even the Cookie Monster up in the booth singing to the crowd. BUY ME SOME PEANUTS AND CRACKER JACKS
2. Bernie Brewer, the beloved mascot of the Milwaukee Brewers, has a fan-favorite tradition of sliding down a giant yellow slide after every Brewers’ home run. This trip from his “dugout” down the slide wasn’t always so family-friendly. Back in the seventies, Bernie would slide from his beer barrel chalet, which looked like something out of Disneyland meets the Alps, into a giant mug of beer to celebrate. His splashdown shifted to the tradition we know today when the team opened their new stadium in 2001. BOTTOMS UP
3. The tradition of singing “Sweet Caroline” during the 8th inning wasn’t always a thing. It started in 1997 with ballpark music maestro Amy Tobey playing the song for a friend who had a daughter named Caroline. Tobey would only play the song between the seventh and ninth innings when the Red Sox were winning the game. Then a new member of the front office saw how the fans were responding to it and pushed for it to become the Red Sox's ‘thing,’ being played at every home game regardless of whether or not the team was winning. And the rest is history. GOOD TIMES NEVER SEEMED SO GOOD
4. You may have never voted for your presidential candidate based on their 40-yeard dash speed, but you will when you go to a Washington Nationals game. Hold onto your hats because in the fourth inning, some of your favorite presidents race for the title of champion. The President’s Race is a tradition that started back in 2006 and you can catch your favorite Mt. Rushmore presidents: Lincoln, Washington, Jefferson and Roosevelt trotting around the outfield track during every home game. Sometimes they’re joined by special guests like Coolidge, Hoover and Taft. At Sunday home games, you can find these fast-footed presidents in their "Sunday Best" period costumes, which were modeled after a Bette Midler concert puppet. FINALLY, SOMETHING POLITICAL WE CAN ALL AGREE ON
5. In order to pay homage to Houston’s Union Station, which now partly serves as the team store, a train was installed in the Houston Astros stadium, Minute Maid Park, back in 2000. The train takes a 40-second trip back and forth for every home run hit by the home team. ALL ABOARD
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