Major League Baseball and New Era are regularly putting out hat collaborations with different designers, brands, and stars from the world of music and entertainment. The process of ideating, designing, and producing these collaborations means they’re in the work for quite some time, months or years before their release.
I say all of this because sometimes, you put in all that work on a project that you think is going to be a big hit and then, a month or two beforehand, something happens outside of your control that puts you in a real pickle. That is the case with New Era and Major League Baseball’s new collaboration with Drake’s OVO, with a line of hats featuring the OVO owl on the side — including not one but two Los Angeles Dodgers hats.
As such, I have a very hard time coming up with a worse-timed collaboration than a line of Drake-themed Dodgers hats. I’m sure there will be plenty of Drake fans that purchase the hats of other teams, especially the two Blue Jays hats, but I truly cannot imagine anyone earnestly buying one of the Dodgers hats — although, I could see people buying them ironically, so maybe that’ll work out for them.
MLB All Star week will forever hold a lot of memorable moments, but none were quite like the botching of the Star Spangled Banner by Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter Ingrid Andress, but she has the perfect excuse.
With so many star-studded celebs and recording artists who were present at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas last night(July 15), no one expected Andress’ rendition of the National Anthem to sound the way it did, but the entire innanet was on her neck before she banner could yet wave. Even in the video below, the look on ALec Bohm’s face pretty much summed up what everyone else who was present or even witnessed it remotely was thinking.
The performance has since been widely met with criticism online, viewers commenting on footage of the night’s flop with things like “When your Mom lied to you and said you were a great singer…”, “Legend has it, she’s still searching for the right key” and saying she sang the “Star Strangled Banner” instead.
Andress was quick to suspend comments on all of her socials following the display, but that hasn’t stopped the continuous jabs at Andress’ talent, going as far as calling her performance the “worst ever’ of any National Anthem performance in the history of Major League Baseball’s Home Run Derby. Less than 24 hours after the embarrassing bomb, Andress claims that she was drunk during her performance and vowed to enter into rehab.
Even with the suggestions of Vladdy potentially being the centerpiece of a four-way swap to the Mariners just in time for the MLB deadline in a couple of weeks, the son of the reputed Hall Of Famer is still just as excited about this year’s All Star Game as he was last night when his former teammate Teoscar Hernandez took home the Home Run Derby title.
At just 25 years old, Guerrero Jr. is well on his way to matching his father’s All Star fly, with already four All Star Game appearances, including his first in 2021 where he made history as the youngest to be voted as the All Star MVP. Ironically, the then 22-year-old also landed second in votes as the American League MVP as well. The former top Minor League prospect who earned $3.8 million to sign with Toronto at only 16 years oldis now half-way up the ladder to reaching his dad, Guerrero Sr’s nine-time All Star game appearances.
In an exclusive interview with TheSource.com, Guerrero Jr. sits down to delve into the impact that the Latin and Caribbean Leagues had on his dream to play baseball, who he’s looking forward to playing with and against on the diamond during the All Star Game and even his health regimen, which he gives substantial credit to his new sponsor, BodyArmor Sports Drink.
Even with the suggestions of Vladdy potentially being the centerpiece of a four-way swap to the Mariners just in time for the MLB deadline in a couple of weeks, the son of the reputed Hall Of Famer is still just as excited about this year’s All Star Game as he was last night when his former teammate Teoscar Hernandez took home the Home Run Derby title.
At just 25 years old, Guerrero Jr. is well on his way to matching his father’s All Star fly, with already four All Star Game appearances, including his first in 2021 where he made history as the youngest to be voted as the All Star MVP. Ironically, the then 22-year-old also landed second in votes as the American League MVP as well. The former top Minor League prospect who earned $3.8 million to sign with Toronto at only 16 years oldis now half-way up the ladder to reaching his dad, Guerrero Sr’s nine-time All Star game appearances.
In an exclusive interview with TheSource.com, Guerrero Jr. sits down to delve into the impact that the Latin and Caribbean Leagues had on his dream to play baseball, who he’s looking forward to playing with and against on the diamond during the All Star Game and even his health regimen, which he gives substantial credit to his new sponsor, Body Armour Sports Drink.
Ingrid Andress kicked off the 2024 MLB Home Run Derby with a rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” that had everyone talking. The country music star and four-time Grammy-nominated singer’s performance of the National Anthem live at Globe Life Field on Monday quickly sparked a reaction on social media moments after it was over. It was not a positive reaction, to say the least. Baseball fans and social media users who don’t even watch baseball are still not done joking about it.
Andress, a somewhat new act in the country music scene, broke through with her single “More Hearts Than Mine” in 2019, which peaked at #30 on the Billboard Hot 100. She released her debut album Lady Like in September 2020 and followed up with Good Person in August 2022. She was an opening act on country music legend Keith Urban’s The Speed of Now World Tour in 2022. Her father, Brad Andress, was a strength and conditioning coach for several professional baseball teams, including the Detroit Tigers, Colorado Rockies, and New York Mets.
Fans React To Ingrid Andress’ National Anthem Performance
Of course, fans quickly compared Ingrid Andress’s performance to Fergie’s infamous showing at the 2018 NBA All-Star game. That rendition was so poorly received that players tried to hide their laughter. It sparked a variety of remixes and memes. When Fergie finally reflected on her performance, she explained that she “wanted to try something special for the NBA, but clearly [this] rendition didn’t strike the intended tone.” Maybe Andress was trying something special for Major League Baseball with her performance on Monday evening.
As for Andress herself, she has not yet addressed the performance, or the internet’s reaction to her performance. Earlier in the day, she announced a new single and two concerts for later in July. One in Nashville, Tennessee, and another in Denver, Colorado, her home state. Following her performance, she disabled comments on her Instagram page, likely to avoid seeing additional criticism. Musicians don’t get nominated for four Grammy Awards for no reason, so it was likely an off day for Andress. Hopefully, she gets the chance to redeem herself in the future.
The start of Major League Baseball’s All-Star festivities arrived on Monday night at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, where eight of the league’s best hitters were set to compete in the Home Run Derby.
However, before the Derby could begin, they had Ingrid Andress sing the national anthem and, well, it did not go well.
There are bad anthems and then there are anthems that get remembered forever for how bad they are. This, unfortunately for Andress, likely falls into the latter category alongside infamous renditions by Fergie, Carl Lewis, Roseanne Barr, and others who have either butchered or taken significant artistic liberties with the anthem. It’s not abundantly clear what happened here to cause things to go this badly, but people in attendance and watching on TV were completely dumbfounded, with many wondering if this was all some elaborate prank.
Folks also immediately compared it to some of those disastrous sports anthems of the past, with the Fergie anthem the most recent example, as Draymond Green cracking during her All-Star rendition being an all-timer. For the Andress anthem, Alex Bohm starred in the Draymond role as he couldn’t hold back a confused smirk while things spiraled downhill.
It has been revealed that the cause of death of former MLB player Sean Burroughs died from a fentanyl overdose, according to the toxicology report, the Los Angeles County Coroner.
As reported back in May, the the ninth-overall pick in the 1998 MLB Draft was found unresponsive next to his car in a Long Beach parking lot outside his son’s Little League baseball game. He was 43 years old.
Burroughs was a coach on his son’s team and folks got worried when he didn’t show up for the start of the game. That’s when they went looking for him and found him next to his car.
As a player, Sean won back-to-back Little League World Series titles in 1992 and 1993 with the Long Beach all-star team. He became the first American-born pitcher to throw back-to-back no-hitters, earning him an appearance on The Late Show With David Letterman.
Sean was signed to play college baseball at USC, but decided to go pro instead. He eventually made it to the Majors, playing 7 seasons with the San Diego Padres, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Arizona Diamondbacks and Minnesota Twins. He also won an Olympic gold medal with Team USA at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.
Sean told ESPN in 2011 that he struggled with drug and alcohol abuse during his final seasons in MLB.
Regardless of the sport or field of expertise that anyone decides to pursue, in order to advance and thrive in that said field, must first be recognized for their talents by those who make executive decisions before any sort level up can occur. In any professional level sport, getting seen by scouts and coaches while among the amateur ranks seems likes a million to one shot, especially for Black baseball players. Black players make up less than 10% on the baseball diamond on the professional level, while their basketball and football counterparts are an overwhelming 80% of professional rosters.
Enter into the world of Minority Baseball Prospects’ Creative Director and VP Tyrone Wyche. The Atlanta native started the mission of magnifying a focus on Black and Brown baseball players along with his brother Alex during the pandemic, when national baseball showcases broadcasted white players while all but shunning minority players who boasted better stats in tougher leagues. There is no doubt that Black players have made unprecedented history in baseball, but with baseball being predominately white since its inception in 1890, back when Black players were totally excluded from competing on a professional level, Black baseball players’ opportunities to gain national exposure are not even comparable to their white counterparts. Also, the racism faced by Black players in the early 20th century that forced them to create the Negro Leagues are the same hurdles that have now forced people like Wyche into a niche to properly expose Black baseball prospects.
Minority Baseball Prospects and its sister organization, Minority Softball Prospects, have literally spread over half of the country and have produced unparalleled results. MBP is currently facilitating events and showcases in 26 states, have showcased 565 collegiate signees including 2024 NCAA D1 Collegiate Champions Tennessee Vols’ Christian Moore, Kavares Tears and Ariel Antigua, 47 MLB Draft Picks including Pittsburgh Pirates’ Temarr Johnson, Arizona Diamondbacks Druw Jones, Reds’ 2022 1st Round Draft Pick Cam Collier, Padres’ 2023 1st Round Draft Pick Dillon Head, Yankees 2023 1st Round Draft Pick George Lombard Jr., Rangers’ 2022 5th Round Draft Pick Chandler Pollard and hundreds of HBCU All-American and All-American Game Black players.
In this exclusive interview with TheSource.com, this Black baseball executive speaks about the importance of having showcases and tournaments exclusively for Black and Brown baseball players and his plans to expand the Minority Prospects umbrella into other sports.
Wyche stated his purpose for establishing MBP: “At the end of the day, me and my brother felt like this void needed to be filled…it’s never been talked about. So for us, it just felt like the right timing. It showed us that it really needed to be done because it happened so fast…we did it for the passion. We didn’t do it for the money. We did it for the representation.”
Regardless of the sport or field of expertise that anyone decides to pursue, in order to advance and thrive in that said field, must first be recognized for their talents by those who make executive decisions before any sort level up can occur. In any professional level sport, getting seen by scouts and coaches while among the amateur ranks seems likes a million to one shot, especially for Black baseball players. Black players make up less than 10% on the baseball diamond on the professional level, while their basketball and football counterparts are an overwhelming 80% of professional rosters.
Enter into the world of Minority Baseball Prospects’ Creative Director and VP Tyrone Wyche. The Atlanta native started the mission of magnifying a focus on Black and Brown baseball players along with his brother Alex during the pandemic, when national baseball showcases broadcasted white players while all but shunning minority players who boasted better stats in tougher leagues. There is no doubt that Black players have made unprecedented history in baseball, but with baseball being predominately white since its inception in 1890, back when Black players were totally excluded from competing on a professional level, Black baseball players’ opportunities to gain national exposure are not even comparable to their white counterparts. Also, the racism faced by Black players in the early 20th century that forced them to create the Negro Leagues are the same hurdles that have now forced people like Wyche into a niche to properly expose Black baseball prospects.
Minority Baseball Prospects and its sister organization, Minority Softball Prospects, have literally spread over half of the country and have produced unparalleled results. MBP is currently facilitating events and showcases in 26 states, have showcased 565 collegiate signees including 2024 NCAA D1 Collegiate Champions Tennessee Vols’ Christian Moore, Kavares Tears and Ariel Antigua, 47 MLB Draft Picks including Pittsburgh Pirates’ Temarr Johnson, Arizona Diamondbacks Druw Jones, Reds’ 2022 1st Round Draft Pick Cam Collier, Padres’ 2023 1st Round Draft Pick Dillon Head, Yankees 2023 1st Round Draft Pick George Lombard Jr., Rangers’ 2022 5th Round Draft Pick Chandler Pollard and hundreds of HBCU All-American and All-American Game Black players.
In this exclusive interview with TheSource.com, this Black baseball executive speaks about the importance of having showcases and tournaments exclusively for Black and Brown baseball players and his plans to expand the Minority Prospects umbrella into other sports.
Wyche stated his purpose for establishing MBP: “At the end of the day, me and my brother felt like this void needed to be filled…it’s never been talked about. So for us, it just felt like the right timing. It showed us that it really needed to be done because it happened so fast…we did it for the passion. We didn’t do it for the money. We did it for the representation.”
Now that the NBA season is over, Shaquille O’Neal can shift his focus to his true love: music. The Hall of Famer spends his summers touring as DJ Diesel, as he’s shifted his focus away from hip-hop, when he was once a platinum selling artist, to EDM and house music, previously explaining that he just loves the energy of those crowds.
Shaq will do it all, from hitting the festival circuit to a Las Vegas residency at Encore Beach Club to performances at MLB stadiums after games. His most recent stop came on Saturday night in Cleveland, where he was at Blue Jays-Guardians and performed on the field for fans after the Guards picked up a 6-3 win to improve to 46-26 on the season.
The vibes are incredibly high for the Guards right now, and that only continued with DJ Diesel hopping on the 1s and 2s and bringing out some special guests from the clubhouse, as Cleveland pitcher Triston McKenzie (and a number of ofther Guardians players) joined Shaq on stage and performed “Since U Been Gone” by Kelly Clarkson to the delight of the fans.
File this under things I didn’t know I absolutely needed to witness:
Triston McKenzie sings Kelly Clarkson while jamming with Shaq in front of a crowded ballpark.
Triston McKenzie singing Kelly Clarkson on stage with Shaquille O’Neal performing as DJ Diesel after a #Guardians win at Progressive Field. pic.twitter.com/U4H5vfTGfS
— Bryce wants YOU to #VoteGuards (@mlbeuphoria) June 23, 2024
First off, this is a reminder that “Since U Been Gone” is 20 years old and is still an absolute banger. Kelly Clarkson was really in her bag with that one. Secondly, DJ Diesel knows what the people want, which is a Kelly Clarkson interlude before going right back into some EDM. A true showman, through and through, who absolutely knows how to work a crowd — he hyped up the Guards as a World Series contender during his set as well.
pic.twitter.com/AvJIivH5pJ
