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There are many years in Chicago when the arrival of Autumn means it’s time to wrap up two disappointing baseball seasons and get ready for a disappointing football season. That’s not the case in 2015, though. The North-Side baseball franchise is battling for a spot in the playoffs, and the local gridiron team is showing signs of life after two years of being led by a well-meaning but novice coach. Fall is also the time when artists and bands come off the outdoor festival circuit and release their end-of-the-year albums. This annual transition of sports and music got me thinking what were folks listening to when Chicago’s five pro sports franchises went all the way?
Here’s a list of what the world was listening to the year each of the city’s five major sports franchises last won a championship, from two perspectives: the top album on the Billboard 200 chart, and other albums released during the year that are now, thanks to time and the perspective/wisdom it brings, regarded as classics:
by Ron Harlow
The Chicago Cubs have a long list of lasts. Wins and losses aside, they were the last major league baseball team to install lights in their home ballpark. This year, they became the last to install a video replay board. This season also features a subtler addition to the list – the Cubs are the last big league team to fully allow their players to use a walk-up song.
A walk-up song is what’s played over the ballpark’s loudspeakers as the batter walks up to the plate. The home team lets each individual player choose whichever song he wants to hear just before facing a 90-mile-per-hour projectile. It can be any song and for any reason. Over the summer, the walk-up song becomes a part of a player’s identity.
The Cubs experimented with walk-up songs in 2010, but decided to stick with traditional organ music. Today, ownership is intent on modernizing Wrigley Field. The walk-up song is a modern quirk in a sport that’s reluctant to change, and creating a playlist is much less expensive and time-consuming than constructing a video board.
Here are my top five 2015 Cubs walk-up songs:
Kyle Schwarber was three years old when this R&B classic was released. Ever since the rookie sensation was called up from the minors in June, I’ve developed a Pavlovian response to “No Diggity.” Schwarber is a phenomenal hitter, so hearing his walk-up song signals my brain that something good is about to happen.