The Ballad of Bud
by Brandon IsleibJune 19, 2008
If you've rooted around my bio, you've seen that I make music. Below is my first effort to mesh my loves of music and baseball. In a Brattain-inspired lyric, I sing as Bud Selig, portraying him as craving hordes of attention for ideas that aren't really so innovative but that bring in money (yeah, way to go—you thought of a wild-card system for baseball. Couldn't have done it myself.) Every double meaning is intended.
Here's the song. If you have playback issues with software and/or an Internet Explorer older than 7, right-click to "Save Target As" to download the HTM file that, when opened, should redirect you to the link for the mp3. If that doesn't work, then just paste ftp://ftp.hardballtimes.com/BalladofBud.mp3 into your browser and see if that works. If that doesn't work, make up your own song to these words.
Do you think Bud gets it?
Lyrics
In '92 they thought the game was too FaySo they appointed me in an interim way
I had brilliant ideas nobody had seen,
Like making three divisions where only two had been
But you didn't see that brilliance play out in '94
'Coz I confronted the Fehr and brought the players to war
In '95 we came too close to playing with replacements,
Which wouldn't help small-market teams stay out of the basement
Don't you think I should get credit for that?
Don't you think I should get it?
Don't you think I should get credit for that, credit for that?
Don't you think I, don't you think I get it?
For the next few years, we saw homers leave the yard
(When Elster hits 24, it can't be that hard)
The nation cheered when Mark and Sammy connected,
Ignoring that it could have been from what was injected
Expansion brought new revenue streams
So we could whine the next few years that there were too many teams
And not to say this so that anybody can hear,
But some guy named Bonds broke Mark's record within three years
(Confirming my fears)
CHORUS
I continued to show my astounding innovations:
Interleague play, revenue sharing, luxury taxation!
Small-market teams now stand a chance against the privileged few
(You thought it had to do with smart GMs, didn't you?)
So I really don't see why I should shoulder the blame
For performance enhancers that are tainting the game
I took a hard-line stance when Congress breathed down my shirt,
Though my distaste for a Giants' left fielder didn't hurt
CHORUS with extra "Does he get it?" in the background
References and Resources
Credits:
Brandon Isleib — lyrics, vocals, z3ta+ software synthesizer, drum samples, production
Bud Selig — inconsistency, narcissism, DJ scratching, beatboxing
Kevin Elster — home runs, autoharp
Brandon Isleib possesses more baseball-related spreadsheets than he does law firm clients, but he's been building up the former for a lot longer and has reason to believe he's better with them anyway. He can be reached via the electronic mails.