LOS ANGELES, CA – Not only were the New York Yankees outplayed by the Los Angeles Dodgers in a Series that exposed their flaws, but another round was lost during a pre-game East Coast/West Coast rap battle.
The Dodgers let loose rapper Ice Cube, whose birth name of O’Shea Jackson Sr. could do no wrong in the month of October. His hits, Bow Down and It was a Good Day energized the sold-out crowd, including the Dodgers company man Dave Roberts. The manager showed his hip side as he lip synced the lyrics that the rapper rhymed. The Yankees dugout was amused as left fielder Alex Verdugo bopped along to third baseman’s Jazz Chisholm’s hand gestures.
It turned out to be a good day for the Dodgers, as the tune Cube belted out of the park sends the message of surviving a day in the hood, a fit that MLB found alright to go with America’s Pastime. Cube even acknowledged Vin Scully and the recently passed Fernando Valenzuela.
Over in the Boogie Down Bronx, where hip-hop was born 51 years ago, the Yankees tried too hard to top the LA rapper by unleashing Fat Joe on its faithful. The Bronx White Pages have him listed as Joseph Cartagena and there wasn’t enough whiteout to erase this performance.
At least the Bronx rapper acknowledged Thurman Munson and Reggie Jackson. That should have reminded the PR department that Mr. October was indeed inside the ballpark, and handed him a baseball alongside Derek Jeter to throw out the first pitch.
It was an ANALytical call that had everyone who watched wanting to throw up as they leaned back and thought, WTF was that?
And now for some shameless cross-promotion:
