Track of the Week: "The Baseball Boogie"

 This weekend I had the great fortune to be in Pittsburgh, hanging out with two great friends I made during my all too brief two-year time in Michigan.  One lives on the outskirts of Pittsburgh, while the other came up from Georgia.  We all met as contingent faculty, which meant that we were all scattered to the four corners of the country within three years of us meeting.  Only one of us still remains in academia.

Last night we repeated a ritual that we had developed on long winter Saturday nights in Michigan.  After knocking back a few beers, we gathered 'round the computer and started sharing YouTube clips.  This time around we threw out some new ones, but also went back to some old reliables that still retain their power.  "The Baseball Boogie," a music video featuring the 1986 Los Angeles Dodgers, probably won the night yet again, both for its ridiculousness and for provoking memories of our fun times together.

People of a certain age may remember "The Super Bowl Shuffle," a godawful rap video featuring the 1985 Chicago Bears, who went on to back up their bragging with a 15-1 run and an NFL title.  Unfortunately, other sports teams saw this and decided to come up with their own team songs.  The Dodgers, being in LA, put out "The Baseball Boogie," which is not a boogie at all, but a lifeless 1980s R&B number with more gloss than a copy of Vogue.  Highlights include Pedro Guererro's Mr. T starter-set jewelry, Orel Hersheiser's pelvic thrusting, Steve Sax's blow-dried middle-parted 80s coif, and Jerry Reuss looking like a coked out grandpa.  Oh yeah, there's also plenty of terrible rapping and cheesy mugging for the camera.

Last night I spent the whole video laughing myself hoarse.  It wasn't just the ridiculousness of the proceedings, but sharing something with old friends who "get" me in ways that nobody here in Jersey apart from my wife can understand.  Great friends, and supremely cheesetastic videos such as these aren't easy to find, and should be cherished.