The Washington Nationals are using musical acts such as the Carpenters to troll their opponents in batting practice.
When the New York Mets took the field at Nationals Park on Wednesday for batting practice, the Carpenters' 1970 hit, "Rainy Days and Mondays" came over the loudspeakers.
Major leaguers aren't using to hearing the likes of the Carpenters at ballparks these days. But the Nationals are starting to play slow soft-rock songs during the visiting team's batting practice to gain a possible psychological edge, the New York Times reported.
During their three-game series in Washington, the Mets heard the Carpenters, Elton John, Sarah McLachlan, Sinead O'Connor and Kansas.
Mets hitting coach Kevin Long turned to someone during batting practice and said, "Is that George Michael?"
The Mets' strategy, though, was to laugh off the softer music.
"You laugh at it, go along with it and don't let it affect you one way or another," Long said. "You have it, psychologically, play in your favor somehow."
Julia Kim, a clinical psychologist at the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan, told the Times that the slower music the Nationals are using doesn't necessarily have a noticeable effect. Kim said upbeat music is energizing, but sometimes, slower music can help some players slow down and relax.
"It's very individualized," Kim said. "It depends on the music, depends on what you like. But it also depends on if you believe it. If you believe that music is going to affect your performance, it will."
The Nationals are having fun with their current experiment.
"We like to be fun and creative with our in-game entertainment, and the songs we play during visiting team batting practice is part of the show," Valerie Camillo, the Nationals' chief revenue and marketing officer, said in a statement.
The slower music didn't seem to affect the Mets, as they took two out of three against the defending NL East champion Nationals earlier this week.
"Whatever they want to do," Mets third baseman David Wright said, brushing away the Nationals' stunt. "If teams want to try to gain however slight an advantage, why not? I don't think it was in any of our heads."
Back again
Winnipeg hockey fans will get to see their NHL team play in the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time since 1996.
Playoff hockey is set to return to the city for the first time in 19 years, and fans greeted the news by pouring into the streets, flying Jets flags, and snapping up jerseys and other white-colored gear.
"My wife told me, 'Get down there, get [T-shirts] for the family,'" said Eric Troniak, one of several dozen people who lined up early outside the NHL team's official store at MTS Centre.
He snagged five white T-shirts within minutes of the store's opening Friday.
The celebrations started Thursday night, moments after the Jets clinched a playoff berth. Hundreds of fans gathered at the intersection of Portage and Main -- the same spot where, in the mid-1990s, Troniak and thousands of others rallied in an attempt to stop the original Jets from leaving for Arizona where they became the Coyotes.
"That really tore the heart out of the city, and the Jets coming back [in 2011] really invigorated the city," he said.
The NHL returned to Manitoba in 2011 when the Atlanta Thrashers moved to Winnipeg and were renamed the Jets.
SPORTS QUIZ
How many playoff series did the Winnipeg Jets win from 1979 to 1996?
ANSWER
Two. 1985 and 1987.
Sports on 04/12/2015