For some reason, sports teams in the 1980s thought the public wanted nothing more than to see them singing and dancing awkwardly to a backdrop of a generic rap beat. And maybe they were right. After all, “The Super Bowl Shuffle” by the Chicago Bears reached No. 41 on the Billboard Top 100 in 1986, and eventually went on to sell more than a half-million copies.
With Game 1 of the World Series beginning Tuesday night between the Royals and the Mets, we thought it would be fun to look back at another example of this wonderful 1980s phenomenon featuring former pitcher Bret Saberhagen, who at the time was the 21-year-old ace of a Royals staff that won the World Series in 1985. Here he is off-beat and off-key, rapping about Ford Ranger pickup trucks in a commercial for a local car dealership.
Does this commercial include Saberhagen “rapping” the lyrics, “They’ve got a base, that’s a real steal,” while holding an actual base? Well, you’ll just have to watch and find out.
In the interest of fair play, we would be remiss if we did not include an amazing rap featuring the 1986 Mets — seriously, did every winning team in the 1980s make an awkward rap song? Unfortunately, there’s no video, but the song is hypnotic. Get Metsmerized!
(Via Mike Ryan)
