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Hearing Roxy Music
Your Great Closer Songs
In the wake of the Rivera-Wagner closer anthem controversy, we asked you to post your closer song of choice. As previously stated, mine is Fugazi's Shut the Door for four simple reasons: 1) They're from DC. 2) It rocks. 3) The words are perfect. 4. It's obscure enough to be mine. All mine.
Now, before we get to your picks, let's take a worthwhile detour to Slate's naming of the best closer song of all time (thanks to The Big Lead for the link). For what it's worth, they name Nas' Hate Me Now as the G.O.A.T. Huston Street uses it, which makes him the illest closer in the AL West with K-Rod coming in a close second. A few other things from the article you should know ...
"John Rocker managed to inspire such hatred that Twisted Sister asked him to stop playing one of their songs when he went to the mound ...
From the start, closers tended to pick rock anthems that were at least 10 years out of date, such as the very popular "Bad to the Bone" (1982) by George Thorogood and the Destroyers. Both Dennis Eckersley and Goose Gossage used the song, and each of Cincinnati's notorious Nasty Boys had a "Bad to the Bone" sticker affixed to his locker ...
Matt Mantei thought it was a good idea to use "Ice, Ice, Baby" when he pitched for the Marlins. Armando Benitez made two ill-advised choices when he tried Jay-Z's "Big Pimpin' " and Biggie's "Big Poppa." The former should be disqualified as a closer theme on the basis of its prominent flute sample. The latter veers off the battlefield and into the bedroom—there's just no space for pillow talk when you're jogging in from the bullpen."
The Nasty Boys! I'd nearly forgotten about those silly bastards. Follow the link above for more closer song goodness, but let's move on to your hypothetical picks. Here are six of the best, in no particular order ...
"I want Bring the Pain by Method Man, because I keep it real and it was awesome in Great White Hype." -- AOL Sports Desk Blog
"Negative Creep, by Nirvana. That's also my wrestling entrance music." -- Deadspin Will
"Ride of the Valkyries. You knew once Robert Duvall cranked it up from the copter in Apocalypse Now that the Viet Cong (and, oh yeah, the civilians along the Mekong Delta) wouldn't be seeing any mercy from this platoon." -- Premature Jockularity
"Everybody Hurts - REM ... No wait, that should be Eric Gagne's new song." -- The Big Picture
"First off Wagner has had it since his rookie year in '96 when Jeff Bagwell forced him to change to it. Second Wagner should put the song behind him and come out to the T.I song Bring Em Out." -- 20 Years in the Making (Ed. note: Bring Em Out was used to great effect on the O.C. last season when they went to Spring Break.)
"The ultimate closer song: Can't Touch This by MC Hammer. It was used by All-American closer Phil Stidham of Arkansas about 15 years ago. Still the best song." -- MisterBS3
Someone really needs to make a Great Closer Songs compilation ... It'd be even better than Jock Jams! Remember, the comments are always open if you'd like to add to the track listing and get in on the royalties (eventually).
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4/16/06 9:52 PM