Alexa, play “Burn It to the Ground.” In the midst of a 13-game losing streak, the Los Angeles Angels turned to the most desperate measures imaginable, with every player changing their walk-up music to Nickelback.
The gambit worked about as well as you might have expected. The Angels failed to score even a single run, falling to the Boston Red Sox 1-0. As if that weren’t insulting enough, the losing streak has now been extended to a franchise-record 14 games.
The Angels began the season with high hopes, buoyed by the current best player on the planet, 2021 MVP Shoehei Otani, arguably the best player in MLB history in Mike Trout, and future Hall of Fame manager Joe Maddon, who helped the under-financed Tampa Bay Rays overachieve for close to a decade before leading the Chicago Cubs to their first title in 108 years.
Related Video
Now, those hopes are as distant as a memory, or should we say “Photograph?” Ohtani has regressed to being merely pretty good, Trout’s amazing season has been interrupted by a groin injury, and Maddon was unceremoniously fired after 12 straight losses, as ownership sought a scapegoat for one of the thinnest, most poorly put together rosters in the league.
As for the choice of Nickelback, that might be traced back to new interim manager Phil Nevin. According to MLB.com, Nevin said, “I like Nickelback. The entire game, I got the songs in my head, I can’t stop singing, and the next guy comes up… I don’t know who it was [who decided to use the Nickelback songs], but it was neat, for a while.”
The Boston Red Sox would probably agree. Check out footage of Ohtani walking up to “Photograph” below.
Here it is, folks: Shohei Ohtani walking up to Nickelback’s “Photograph.” pic.twitter.com/DV1RHeOVUN
Advertisement— Sarah Wexler (@SarahWexler32) June 9, 2022
Every single Angels player has a Nickelback song as their walk up tonight!
This is incredible 👏 pic.twitter.com/0kCC1Ptsj2
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) June 9, 2022
OK, I have the song list …
Ohtani: “Photograph”
Adell: “Rockstar”
Walsh: “How You Remind Me”
Duffy: “Someday”
Lagares: “If Today Was Your Last Day”
Marsh: “When We Stand Together”
Mayfield: “What Are You Waiting For?”
Suzuki: “This Afternoon”
Wade: “Animals”— Alden González (@Alden_Gonzalez) June 9, 2022
FINAL: Angels 0, Red Sox 1 pic.twitter.com/GAFIAknPRM
— Los Angeles Angels (@Angels) June 9, 2022