For many years, music and baseball have been inextricably linked.
From the sounds of Timmy Trumpet being played anytime Edwin Diaz hit the field, to Mariano Rivera scaring the next hitter he would face with the serenades of Enter Sandman by Metalica, music has always played an integral part of a baseball gameday, and there is one event that brings that love of music and baseball together, and that is Innings Festival.
The Innings Festival, which started in 2018 in Arizona, has expanded dramatically over the course of the past couple of years, with the festival even picking up in 2022 in Florida.
Last year’s inaugural Florida event featured big acts such as Green Day and The Lumineers. The event also brought out major MLB superstars such as “The Wizard” Ozzie Smith, Gary Sheffield, and Andruw Jones, just to name a few, and this year was no different.
With Imagine Dragons and The Dave Matthews Band headlining the main two days of the event, this year’s 2023 festival was sure to bring many eyes to the world of music and also to the world of baseball.
The impact that music has on the game is far from the impact that baseball has had on artists, such as The Ries Brothers, a local Tampa Bay area band, who “grew up baseball fans and played baseball as well at a young age.”
The Ries Brothers, who grew up in the St. Pete area, were able to fully embrace the aspects of baseball and music by not only opening on Sunday, but also by meeting Rays All-Star and Opener Tyler Glasnow, Shane McClanahan, and Wade Boggs.
However, that meeting of the minds with people in music and baseball can go hand in hand in the form of Bronson Arroyo, another native-born Floridian, known for his 17-year career in the big leagues, notably with the Reds and Red Sox.
Bronson in his interview brought up his love for music, and now with him and his ’04 Band, Bronson is showing that mix of baseball and music together, even citing that he was able to get to know his bandmates during his career.
Music can do special things in this world and bring people from all walks of life together in a positive manner, similarly to how the game of baseball is as well, and the Innings Festival does that by bringing the love of the game and music together as one.
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