Matthew Kaminski on Friday intended to play a Grateful Dead song as the walk-up music for the Houston Astros’ starting pitcher at the World Series.
Luis Garcia. Jerry Garcia. Get it?
After catching a glimpse of the rookie pitcher’s unique wind-up against the hometown Atlanta Braves, Kaminski was stricken with a bit of inspiration.
Photo: AP
“Listen to this,” he said, flashing a mischievous grin, his hands stirring eagerly on the keyboard.
As Luis Garcia strolled to the plate in Game 3, Kaminski broke into a playful version of Rock-A-Bye-Baby — the perfect musical accompaniment for a rookie right-hander whose extended windup has been compared to someone rocking a child.
“I came up with that on the spot,” Kaminski said later, providing a quick primer on his quirky process for working out the melody to songs at a moment’s notice. “There are times when I get to play a song for the first time in front of 40,000 people.”
There are plenty of stars at this World Series, from Freddie Freeman to Jose Altuve, but give a shout-out to the bespectacled, 44-year-old jazz lover sitting behind the Hammond SK2 organ at Truist Park.
He has no ambitions of being a star — “when someone goes into jazz, they’re not thinking of becoming famous” — but Kaminski has pulled off an impressive musical feat. He has made the organ cool again.
Kaminski’s eclectic taste in music, and his witty selections when opposing players come to the plate, have made him a bit of a cult figure around the suburban Atlanta ballpark.
Even Braves players pay attention to the songs Kaminski is playing for the other guys.
“I do notice it,” outfielder Adam Duvall said. “This guy is unique.”
A devoted band of social media followers eagerly await Kaminski revealing his planned selections on social media when a new team is coming to town, although all picks are subject to change.
Luis Garcia, for instance was initially supposed to hear the Jerry Garcia-penned Casey Jones, but that idea was scuttled in favor of the song that every sleepless parent knows by heart.
Guessing why Kaminski picks a song has become a game within the game, with everyone from his more than 22,000 Twitter followers to the visiting media weighing in on the connection between player and tune.
Given Kaminski’s extensive repertoire — he has a master’s degree in music from Georgia State University and loves everything from 1960s Beach Boys to timeless polka ditties — that is often a tall task.
“I choose songs that I think work best on the instrument,” he said. “Some songs just don’t work that well on the organ.”
Kaminski cannot to go too deep into his catalogue — the guessing game does not really work if no one has any idea what he is playing — but he clearly enjoys the perplexed looks when someone tries to figure out why, for example, he is playing the M*A*S*H theme for Astros slugger Carlos Correa.
“His name is Correa. Which sounds like Korea. M*A*S*H was based in Korea,” Kaminski said.
He is not afraid to push a few buttons, either, although he is always quick to point out that it is all in good fun.
When Altuve led off Game 3, Kaminski regaled him with the nursery rhyme I’m a Little Teapot. Altuve is one of baseball’s shortest players at 1.67m.
“It’s just a kids’ song,” Kaminski said. “To me, that’s not mean-spirited. That’s about having home-field advantage.”
Omar Marmoush’s stunning long-range strike on Tuesday upstaged Kevin de Bruyne on the Manchester City great’s Etihad farewell. Marmoush let fly from about 30m to put City ahead in their 3-1 win against AFC Bournemouth in the Premier League. The victory moved Pep Guardiola’s team up to third in the standings and left qualification for the UEFA Champions League in their own hands heading into the last round of the season. “It’s really important. To be in the Champions League after what happened [this season] will be really nice,” the City manager said. De Bruyne was making his final home appearance for City before
TIGHT FINISH: Napoli only needed to do the same as or better than Inter, who won their game against Como 2-0 on the same day, leaving Napoli with a one-point lead The two players who Antonio Conte wanted more than any others secured Napoli their second Serie A title in three years on Friday. Scott McTominay scored with an acrobatic bicycle kick before halftime and Romelu Lukaku doubled the lead with a solo goal after the break in the decisive 2-0 home win over Cagliari. Conte became the first coach to win the Italian championship with three different teams. “Everyone contributed to this — but the coach most of all,” Napoli captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo said. “Napoli needed him to get back on top. He’s phenomenal.” Comparing it to his three Serie A titles won
The journey of Taiwan’s badminton mixed doubles duo Ye Hong-wei and Nicole Chan at the Malaysia Masters in Kuala Lumpur came to an end in the semi-finals yesterday after they suffered a 2-0 loss to China’s Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping. Ye, 25, and Chan, 20, teamed up last year and are currently ranked No. 23 in the world. The Taiwanese shuttlers took on China’s second seeds in the mixed doubles event, but proved no match for Feng and Huang, losing the match 10-21, 7-21. In the first half of the first game, the pairings were neck and neck at 6-7 until Ye
SSC Napoli coach Antonio Conte has dragged the team back from disaster and restored them to the top of Italian Serie A, but his future at the Scudetto winners is in doubt even after a triumphant season. The fiery 55-year-old has exceeded preseason expectations and bolstered his reputation as a serial winner by guiding Napoli to their fourth Scudetto, and second in three seasons. However, he might well be on his way in the summer after just one season at the helm as his charged relationship with Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis has simmered throughout the campaign. Conte has said
RSS