Video Hangover: "Baseball Boogie"
Every week, we dig in the archives for videos that we find noteworthy, memorable, or just unbelievably stupid. And then, Jon McMillan breaks 'em down for you. Why Video Hangover? Because when you watch as many videos as we do, you're going to feel it afterwards.
"Baseball Boogie"
Baseball Boogie Bunch (aka Los Angeles Dodgers), 1986
On Opening Day, we revisit the 1986 Los Angeles Dodgers' quest to join the pantheon of ridiculous sports videos.
Thanks in part to the good karma generated by this video, the 1986 Dodgers lost only 89 games
I'm not much of a Dodgers fan, so many of the specific embarrassments are lost on me (Mariano Duncan? Rick Honeycutt?), but a number of sports blogs have singled "Baseball Boogie" out as one of the worst team-related-song mishaps of all time. My vote would probably be for the Bootsy Collins/Cincinnati Bengals gangsta rap (Crank it up, fool!), but I suppose at a certain point it's all academic. As for "Baseball Boogie," the multi-colored warmup jackets, glistening, soul-glo afros, and supertight baseball pants are hilarious enough, but it's the players' creepy enthusiasm that really makes the video more than just a period oddity. For comparison, check out the original "Super Bowl Shuffle." The '86 Bears are up there having a good time, for sure, but it's not exactly Solid Gold. The Dodgers, on the other hand, gyrate like extras in an off-Broadway production of A Chorus Line. Former Cy Young winner Orel Hershiser is by far the worst offender (see: thin white guy in the royal blue jacket at :24, 1:57, 2:54), but he's definitely not alone (I'm looking at you, Ed Begley Jr., and guy who looks like Ed Begley Jr.!). Things get wacky at around 2:45, when the team is left to improvise while the flying logos (Roxy! Johnny Rockets! The Beverly Hills!) swoop in to remind everybody that, despite the fact that Major League Baseball would not sanction the use of its official mark, this terrible production has something to do with Los Angeles. A similar shift toward the bizarre comes at 3:15, when the music changes over from "Beverly Hills Cop Chase Scene Outtake" to "Unintelligible, Yet Mildly Offensive Spoken Word Jam." Luckily, the whole thing is slated to end at 2:45AM, which can only be a good thing.
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Posted at 12:37 PM in Video, Video Hangover
Oh man., that was a train wreck. I'm on my 5th time watching it and it keeps getting funnier.
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1. Of course they're having more fun then the Bears. Its LA, not Chicago.
2. This video might be the greatest in sports-song history, actually :http://youtube.com/watch?v=Ix081prSiNc
3. Think Blue!
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@ bearface
You just blew my mind. I forgot that irony wasn't invented until 1991. Ram it!
Check out the Raiders from the same year: http://youtube.com/watch?v=-eEF8zplJY8.
Also, the Mets, featuring Joe Piscopo: http://youtube.com/watch?v=S0txUWNpSlc
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i can't believe it was just over 20 years ago that anything associated with that video seemed like a good idea
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I agree with Jon, the Mets/Joe Piscapo video is a classic! All I remember of that video is Joe Piscapo and his mullet.
Didn't Belinda Carlisle date one of the guys on the Dodgers back in the 80's??
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@ Arielle
Really?
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The first thing that came to mind was the "Super Bowl Shuffle," of course.
And then I remembered this gem:
http://cdbaby.com/cd/moritz1
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