The calendar may define it as March 21, but any baseball fan knows that Opening Day is the real first day of Spring. With a new season just kicking into gear, it’s time to consider the relationship of sports and music. There’s more pop music in the stadiums than ever these days. The problem is, it’s all the same ten songs. Every player seems to enter to Faith No More’s “Epic,” or “Sweet Home Alabama,” or, for the adventurous, the Chemical Brothers’ “Galvanize.” Closing pitchers have their own playlist, and it’s similarly tried-and-true. Even relatively new songs like “Battle Without Honor or Humanity” and “Shipping Up to Boston” have been played nearly into the ground. In short, stadium music is in a rut.

Now, my usual brief with How Bad Can It Be? is to look at pop culture and ask, “Why?” Today, though, in a break with tradition, I’m getting proactive. Why can’t the music in America’s ballparks be fresh and fun? Why can’t stadium crowds get roused by the inherent excitement of the music, rather than by the Pavlovian response of hearing “Enter Sandman” for the eight billionth time? There’s a ton of great music out there can get the fans up and pumped; all that’s needed is the will to buck tradition and try something new.

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