In the 1989 film Major League, protagonist relief pitcher Rick Vaughn (played by Charlie Sheen) adopted "Wild Thing" as his theme song, to play over the PA system whenever he came into a game from the bullpen. The movie used a cover version by the punk band X, rather than the better-known Troggs recording.
I don't know if entrance music was a big thing in baseball before the movie but the idea has certainly taken hold since. These days, it seems half the players - both batters and pitchers - have a song that plays when they enter a ballgame. I actually think it's highly inappropriate for a team sport but I suppose the marketing people know what they're doing.
The song itself was first recorded by The Wild Ones in 1965. However, it was the Troggs' 1966 cover that went to the top of the charts. The middle instrumental section features an ocarina - certainly unusual for a pop song.
My Baseball Fantasy
Vermont League: won, 7-3 (112-67-11 overall, 1st place out of 12 teams)
Maryland League: tied, 5-5 (99-81-10, 4th of 10)
Public League: 81.5 Rotisserie points (4th of 12)
My Player of the Week: Jason Heyward (Right Fielder, Braves) with 3 home runs, 5 runs, 4 RBI and a .385 batting average
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| via New York State of Sports |
No mention of the Sam Kinison version? :-)
ReplyDeleteI'd completely forgotten about Sam Knison! RIP...
DeleteI love the movie Major League... and I love all the baseball songs that come with the pitchers.
ReplyDeleteThe movie was in part filmed in the old baseball park in Tucson. Till our great leader Congressman Raul Guivera decided we needed another (small) baseball park in his district that no one can get to unless they have a car. They kicked out the Tucson Torros and we now have the Tucson Pardes that play at his park.
le sigh
cheers, parsnip
I did not know that! That film crew got around. According to IMDb, they shot in Chicago, Milwaukee, Tucson, Cleveland, New York, Evanston, Illinois and Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin.
DeleteAh, this song reminds me of back when Charlie Sheen was just a little crazy. Not full on bat-shiz crazy, like he is now. LOL
ReplyDeleteI actually thought the same thing. I thought of posting a clip of the scene, too - when's the last time you thought about Tom Berenger or Corbin Bernsen? - but decided against. Two F-bombs in the clip, stepping over the line for my PG-rated blog, perhaps. A word of warning would have covered me on that. But really, out of context, it's not such a great scene.
DeleteMitch Williams...!
ReplyDeleteYes! The Wikipedia page for the song implies that the movie had the idea first but Williams's nickname predates the film. Maybe they just didn't think to play the song for him until the movie came out.
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