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Commentary - Music to my ears

Music and athletics have a strange way of coming together. From the "One Shining Moment" clip at the end of the NCAA basketball tournament to the "I've Got The Power" videos shown at sporting events, music seems to be everywhere.

To me, the most mystifying combination of music and sports takes place in baseball, specifically the music that gets played when individual batters come to the plate. It's gotten to the point where Padres closer Trevor Hoffman's name is now synonymous with "Hells Bells," the AC/DC song that is played as he enters the game.

Here are a few musical suggestions for some current major leaguers.

Al Martin - "The Boy is Mine" by Monica and Brandy. The Padres' left fielder was recently accused of the crime of bigamy, or having more than one wife, following a scuffle at his Scottsdale home. Shawn Haggerty-Martin, his "alleged" wife, claims that she and the Padre were married in a Vegas ceremony over a year ago. Martin admits that there was a ceremony, but didn't believe it was real. Smart guy.

John Rocker - "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" by the Charlie Daniels Band. The song title itself is pretty self-explanatory. In fact, the first line goes "The devil went down to Georgia/ he was looking for a soul to steal."

Apparently, that soul belonged to Rocker, Atlanta's closer. In an interview with Sports Illustrated last off-season, Rocker voiced his displeasure with every minority group from "queers with AIDS" to "20 year olds with three kids."

Darryl Strawberry - "Casey Jones" by The Grateful Dead. Should the former Met, Dodger and Yankee ever play again, he would probably want the Grateful Dead classic to be played as he steps to the plate. "Riding that train, high on cocaine" seems oddly appropriate for Strawberry, who tested positive for narcotics - again - two months ago.

Kevin Brown - "Sell Out" by Reel Big Fish. Brown, who took the San Diego Padres to the 1998 World Series, promptly left Mission Valley for the team's biggest rival, the Dodgers. After buying a house in Beverly Hills and purchasing his own jet, he's sitting pretty to the tune of $108 million dollars over eight years.

Albert Belle - "(I would walk) 500 Miles" by the Proclaimers. Well, not really. It should probably go "I would kick the crap out of Miles" Simon, the ex-Arizona guard who allegedly was caught with Belle's girlfriend two years ago. Anyone who follows baseball knows that Belle, Baltimore's resident hothead, knows his way around a fight.

In a perfect world, even announcers would have their own music. Marv Albert, the voice of NBC sports, would of course have "Man, I feel like a woman" by Shania Twain as his music.

With the music, baseball games would be fun again - just as long as Darryl stays away from the Deadheads.