Baseball Week – Isotopes Punk Rock Baseball Club are from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, as Nard Wuar would say, and they are pretty much exactly as their name says. Whereas yesterday's Baseball Project concerns itself with the history of the great American pastime, Isotopes seem more committed to telling the story of baseball as it happens, including the rules, clubhouse culture, doping scandals and the onerous
sturm und drang that accompanies the journeyman player. Scrabbling in the developmental leages. Fighting for bus seats. Choosing brands of adhesive tapes. Groin pulls. The infield fly rule. Posing for pictures at car dealerships. Average truck stop food. Choosing what kind of cork to put in the bat. Realizing you have to select an insurance agent for the first time in your life and not knowing off-hand what criteria you should use. Taking that gold sticker off the bill of your baseball hat. Having to hear some middle-aged writer ask you questions about "the zen of baseball." Giving up smokeless tobacco. Hotel beds with the wrong thread counts. Spending your springs in either Arizona or Florida, which wasn't a big problem until both states became certifiably crazy about 10 years ago. Old men named "Manny." Getting the words to "Try a Little Tenderness" wrong. Waking up Walter Matthau in the middle of a big hangover. Being shot in the abdomen by a female serial killer. Dealing with Charlie Sheen's wildness. Tom Hanks telling you not to cry. And, finally, the stupid DH rule.
Here's a playlist of seven songs from Isotopes about baseball. It's over in 15 minutes, like my baseball career. Enjoy.
