The Red Sox Battle Cry Of "Dancing On My Own" Has Won Over The Hearts Of America
Ever since Kevin Plawecki joined the Boston Red Sox, Jared has been saying that he's the unofficial captain of the team. The spiritual and emotional sherpa of this club. This was not a 2021 take. This was a 2020 take. The 60 game shortened season that didn't even count ended up laying some important foundation that you're seeing pay massive dividends in October of 2021. The Red Sox stunned the Rays - really, all of baseball - and are now sitting in the penultimate round waiting for the Astros and White Sox to hurry it the fuck up.
Watching FS1's postgame coverage last night, I was waiting to see the initial champagne spray before sitting down to write the series recap. I was shocked to hear the entire team, in unison, screaming out Jay Rock lyrics. Not because it's a bad song, I just didn't see it coming.
The censors over at Fox must've had the night off because you could hear every single word clear as day.
"YOU EITHER WITH ME OR AGAINST ME, HOE!" would've been a perfectly apt way to view this team after this season. This team, for whatever reason, has been so divisive all year in Boston. People were down on the offseason, then the Orioles swept them to open the year, then the Red Sox morphed into the best team in the AL through the All Star Break, then the trade deadline passed and people cried in their diapers that Chaim Bloom *only* traded for Kyle Schwarber, August fucking sucked, and then they found themselves in the last series of the year against the lowly Nationals fighting for their playoff lives only for the consolation of playing the New York Yankees in a single game for a chance to get into the real playoffs. They haven't had a chance to breathe *since* the All Star break. This song, and its message, seemed to perfectly encapsulate the temperature of the room given the circumstances that led them to this point. And it was INSTANTLY overshadowed by Kevin Plawecki's walk-up song, which the rest of America did not see coming at fucking all.
Now some people were also instantly upset that this was a remix of a cover of Robyn's original banger.
I'm not too hung up on whose version of which remix of the song it is, because at this point it's irrelevant. It's not Robyn's song, it's not Tiesto's remix, it's not Calum Scott's cover. No. None of that. This is the 2021 Boston Red Sox anthem. Their battle cry. In 2018, after Aaron Judge foolishly walked by the Red Sox clubhouse blaring Sinatra's "New York, New York" we promptly murdered the Yankees dead in the Bronx and then stole their anthem. That's been a Boston song titled "Start Spreading The News" ever since, and one Eduardo Rodriguez was sure to play LOUDLY for the whole locker room to enjoy after every series win that run. 2021? We didn't have to harm anyone. It is simply the anthem of their guru, their guide, their muse, Kevin Plawecki. Therefor, it is the anthem of them all. And it fucking bangs.