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"Show a little faith, there's magic in the night..."

Toronto shortstop J.P. Ricciardi steps to the plate, as Bruce Springsteen’s "Thunder Road" echoes through the imaginary SkyDome.

The Jays’ GM willingly answered everything I asked on behalf of Batter’s Box contributors and readers, even hypothetical and personal questions, like what his theme music would be if he was a big-league player.

"Riding out tonight to case the promised land..."

Don't miss the entire interview here tomorrow morning. I'm sure you will enjoy it.


Craig, Jordan, John Gizzi, Mike D., Mick, Gwyn, Pistol, Spicol, Jonny German, Andrew Edwards, Shane, Gerry, perlhack, Ryan and Christian all have at least one question in the final transcript, and I came up with a couple of ad-libs while holding the microphone. Your contributions are being acknowledged here; the interview will read "BB:" and "JPR:" but it was truly a group effort.

There were dozens of other great suggestions in the Ask J.P. thread that I wish he could have answered. Narrowing down the list was an impossible task. Some of your original eloquence was lost as I paraphrased; with time at a premium, the less I said, the better. To everyone who submitted questions, whether they were used or not, thank you very much.

For me, it was an unforgettable thrill to watch part of a game with the GM, as I mentioned in the August 21 game thread. However, I was just the messenger -- all of us should consider this a proud accomplishment. It's certainly a milestone for Da Box, and we are extremely grateful to J.P. for his time, his candid responses and his support of our site.


On Deck: J.P. Ricciardi | 27 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
Pistol - Monday, August 25 2003 @ 03:51 PM EDT (#75105) #
I'm sure it'll be excellent. Can't wait.
_Spicol - Monday, August 25 2003 @ 03:55 PM EDT (#75106) #
like what his theme music would be if he was a big-league player

Who came up with this one? Amazing question! I ask people this often...it sounds strange, but you can tell a lot about a person by their answer.
Gitz - Monday, August 25 2003 @ 04:03 PM EDT (#75107) #
Wait, Coach let one of Mick's questions through? This interview is doomed -- doomed, I tell you!

(Looking forward to it, Coach, as I'm looking forward to seeing Cory Lidle get routed by the A's tonight, then traded over right after the game.)
Craig B - Monday, August 25 2003 @ 04:03 PM EDT (#75108) #
Spicol, I feel I must leap up and take credit at this point for the theme music question. No humility here, folks! J.P.'s answer does indeed say a lot about him.

Incidentally, my own choice would be "Kick 'em in da Face" by early-90s Halifax hip-hop outfit Hip Club Groove. Or possibly Zappa's "Willie the Pimp".
Gitz - Monday, August 25 2003 @ 04:05 PM EDT (#75109) #
Now, this has no bearing whatsoever on my personality, but my song would be "White Lines" by Grandmaster Flash. Remember it's an anti-drug song, people. Second choice would be Van Halen's "Jump." (Old school, to be sure.)
_rodent - Monday, August 25 2003 @ 04:18 PM EDT (#75110) #
Velvet Underground's Some Kinda Love; although Coach has suggested White Light, White Heat.
_Jordan - Monday, August 25 2003 @ 04:37 PM EDT (#75111) #
"Standing on Higher Ground," by The Alan Parsons Project. Which I believe was a type of hovercraft.

I'm really looking forward to this interview. Kudos in advance, Kent, on pulling this off!
Coach - Monday, August 25 2003 @ 04:42 PM EDT (#75112) #
J.P. pondered that one for about five seconds -- a long pause for him -- before coming up with Springsteen, then (you could almost see him narrowing down the contenders) made his choice.

Put me down for Revolution by The Beatles. (The fast version.)
Mike D - Monday, August 25 2003 @ 04:44 PM EDT (#75113) #
"Limelight" by Rush or "Unglued" by the Stone Temple Pilots. I must say, though, that when I was at Comiskey last year, Willie Harris strode to the plate to the strains of "Still Fly" by the Big Tymers -- and it was pretty darn cool.

I'd be tempted to use "Hypnotize" by Notorious B.I.G., but any pitcher with even a mild sense of decorum would knock me down immediately if I used it.
Craig B - Monday, August 25 2003 @ 04:51 PM EDT (#75114) #
"White Lines" is terrific at-bat music. Nice choice, Gitz.

I would also *really* like someone to use Run-DMC's "It's Like That" with the thumping rhythmic bass drum intro that leads into the four quick synthesizer blasts. "King of Rock" would also be an utterly fantastic, explosive piece of intro music. I would prefer "King of Rock" as "closer music" though.
_Gwyn - Monday, August 25 2003 @ 05:01 PM EDT (#75115) #
It has to be 'Old Red Eyes is back' by The Beautiful South.
_Shrike - Monday, August 25 2003 @ 05:02 PM EDT (#75116) #
I'll shout out for Peter Gabriel's "Sledgehammer", personally. It's full of vim and vigour, with a great rhythm. As is usual for him, he put together a fantastic video for it too. Another old favourite is Dire Straits' "Money for Nothing": the first minute of that is perhaps the best opening to a song that I know of.
Pepper Moffatt - Monday, August 25 2003 @ 05:06 PM EDT (#75117) #
http://economics.about.com
I'd have to choose Yngwie Malmsteen's "I Am A Viking". I'm not a huge fan of the song, or 80's heavy metal in general, but I can't imagine anything pumping me up more than the first 20 seconds of that song.

Plus lyrics by somebody who doesn't have english as a first language tend to be a lot of fun.

Mike

---
You are a loser and it's such a shame
That you're a fool and you don't know
That as a viking I'll walk all over you
And by my sword you will die
---
Craig B - Monday, August 25 2003 @ 05:15 PM EDT (#75118) #
Actually, I was just listening to "King of Rock" (acutally, I think the song's name is "The Kings") instead of working... and it reminded me that at one time, I *did* use it as a kind of intro music.

When I was a TA at McMaster University in the mid-90s while I was a grad student there, I was (naturally) obligated to hold office hours for my students. Office hours were mostly a joke, since no one wver showed up except after a test or occasionally to discuss a grade on a paper.

But a fairly sizable group of us used to hold our office hours at similar times, and there were even people who elected to work in those dark, dingy cinderblock cubes (five grad students to the cell, like those overcrowded Russian prisons you see on the news where the prisoners have to take turns lying down to sleep) in the basement of University Hall. The offices even had steel bars on the windows, and were down the hall from the filthiest kitchen in recorded history. The cleaning staff, as at any university, refused to clean it (the custodial staff at most universities seem to spend their workdays poring over their collective agreements inventing arguments as to why they shouldn't have to clean things) and as a result, it had been abandoned left as a sort of museum of the foodstuffs, utensils, and glassware of mid-1970s graduate students. A "living" museum, as it were, though not in the usual sense of that term.

Anyway...

One of the features of my own particular cell was a beat-up radio that had a half-busted tape player on it (even had a shortwave radio, not that you can receive anything except Deutsche Welle) left by one of the previous occupants. In fact, it was the only feature of the office aside from a usually-full blackboard, five metal desks, four metal chairs, and a torn sepia poster of Wittgenstein stuck to the wall with masking tape.

So when my office hours began, after checking the hallways to see if anyone had students, I would usually jam a mixtape in the machine (you had to close the cassette door in a particular way) as a signal for the assembled drudges of the UH basement to emerge, blinking, from their books, putting down their red pens and highlighters and chat. I used the same tape a lot, and the first song on it was "The Kings".
_Matthew Elmslie - Monday, August 25 2003 @ 05:54 PM EDT (#75119) #
I like the idea of people wondering what I'm up to, so I'd probably pick something like the Zevon version of 'Poor Poor Pitiful Me' or 'I'm Losing Tonight' by A Passing Fancy. That kind of thing.
_Ryan - Monday, August 25 2003 @ 06:12 PM EDT (#75120) #
My at-bat song would be "Draggin' the Line" by Tommy James, although some fans in the stands would undoubtedly be offended by the first line of the song: "Makin' a living the old hard way."

If I were a pitcher (and a good one) where your song is played while you're warming up, I'd go with Deodato's version of the theme from "2001: A Space Odyssey."
_Mick - Monday, August 25 2003 @ 07:27 PM EDT (#75121) #
Just no question about my PA theme song ... cue the Little River Band:

Have you heard about the lonesome loser
Beaten by the queen of hearts every time
Have you heard about the lonesome loser
He's a loser, but he still keeps on tryin'
_benum - Monday, August 25 2003 @ 07:58 PM EDT (#75122) #
I'm not big on the later era of Deep Purple but..."Knockin' at your Back Door" has a great 'Jaws Theme' like intro.

If I was a feared slugger (Delgado), I'd go with that one.

If I was:

A)Reed Johnson
'Sparks are gonna fly' - Catherine Wheel

B)Greg Myers
'Crash into Me' - Dave Mathews Band

etc. etc.
_David Armitage - Monday, August 25 2003 @ 08:31 PM EDT (#75123) #
Mine has to be 'Sabotage" by The Beastie Boys, though I'm not really sure whether the implication of the word sabotage would indicate if I was going to ruin the other teams' plans or that I would be a hindrance to my own squad.
Mike D - Monday, August 25 2003 @ 09:20 PM EDT (#75124) #
Coach, I have to say just one thing: Tomorrow's interview will be, for me, my most eagerly-anticipated baseball/internet moment since the schedule came out. I really can't wait.
_susdajaysfan - Monday, August 25 2003 @ 09:29 PM EDT (#75125) #
No doubt Coach well done on getting the interview. There is no doubt that tommorow morning will be a very interesting read. Ever since u put it on the site that u will be interviewing him, I know it is what all us jays fans have been lookin forward to.
_susdajaysfan - Monday, August 25 2003 @ 09:29 PM EDT (#75126) #
No doubt Coach well done on getting the interview. There is no doubt that tommorow morning will be a very interesting read. Ever since u put it on the site that u will be interviewing him, I know it is what all us jays fans have been lookin forward to.
Pepper Moffatt - Monday, August 25 2003 @ 09:39 PM EDT (#75127) #
http://economics.about.com
I bet the J.P. interview is going to be very widely read for months to come. I hope someone posts a link to it on Baseball Primer. I'm quite surprised nobody linked to the terrific Reed Johnson interview.

Coach: Have you considered putting a link to the J.P. interview somewhere on the left hand side of the page? I bet newcomers to the site will be interested in reading it long after it's relegated to the archives.

Even better would be a link to an "Interviews" page which then has sublinks to the interviews you did with the coaches and a certain Jason Arnold interview. :)

- Mike
Dave Till - Monday, August 25 2003 @ 11:09 PM EDT (#75128) #
I'm also looking forward to the J.P. interview.

If I were asked to face major league pitching, I'd want to pump myself up, so I'd probably pick the extended version of "Jesus Built My Hot Rod" by Ministry.

A more realistic choice would be the Beatles' "Help!"
_Best_Mate - Tuesday, August 26 2003 @ 06:44 AM EDT (#75129) #
For couch potato sports fans, the topical theme tune has to be Oasis - "Cigarettes and Alcochol"
_Gwyn - Tuesday, August 26 2003 @ 08:11 AM EDT (#75130) #
For couch potato sports fans, the topical theme tune has to be Oasis - "Cigarettes and Alcochol"

The English cricket team once tried the coming out to bat to music idea - one of the perennial attempts to appeal to the 'yoof' market. Of course being English most of the players were incapable of seeing the idea in anything but ironical terms, hence Phil Tuffnell (who does like a pint) chose 'cigarettes and alcohol'.

I think on second thoughts I'd have to go with Aphex Twin's 'Didgeridoo' amazing piece of music, nothing would set a mood quite like that.
_Best_Mate - Tuesday, August 26 2003 @ 11:57 AM EDT (#75131) #
Gwyn

It was exactly the Phil Tufnell example that led me to use Oasis here. Personally, I'd take "Burn Baby Burn" by Ash
On Deck: J.P. Ricciardi | 27 comments | Create New Account
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