nation of language
106 Musicians Predict the 2022 Baseball Season
The powers-that-be did their best to prevent this year’s Major League Baseball season from happening, but, alas, we’re back. By we, I mean the annual SPIN baseball preview. As usual, everyone (or almost everyone) is optimistic about their team’s chances in 2022. In 2021, a good chunk of the season was played with minimal fans in attendance, but things should be mostly back to normal this year. As I said last year about the season: Will it be weird? Probably. But aren’t they all? If it wasn’t a weird season with bizarre injuries, what kind of season would it be? Not baseball, Suzyn. Somehow, we almost doubled the number of participants from 62 to 105. Maybe we go for a cool 162 next year? If nothing else, we know that musicians love America’s Pastime (even if many feel that it doesn’t love ...
Nation of Language Face the Future With A Way Forward
There was a slight air of apprehension as hundreds of masked fans packed into the Lodge Room, a gorgeous 1920s Italian Renaissance Revival-style venue in a former Masonic Lodge in the Highland Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. It’s a warm, inviting space, complete with cherry wood paneling, hand-painted murals featuring scenes of ancient Egypt, and a huge golden pentagram on the ceiling. But, it was clear that at least a few folks in the crowd were still getting used to being out at shows again. A long-haired man at the bar slathered his hands with sanitizer before double fisting Jack and Cokes. A hipster couple had a muffled argument about where to safely stand and still see the stage. A fashionable woman with fogged glasses stumbled into the VIP area. They’d all come to see Nation of Lan...
28 Musicians Predict the 2020 Baseball Season
Against all odds and the advice of many virologists, the 2020 MLB season is finally underway. Whether that’s a good idea in the midst of a pandemic is beside the point because it’s happening. Baseball is back, albeit in a much stranger fashion than anyone could have imagined when spring training began in February (which may as well have been 1923). With a 60-game season looming and a bunch of bizarre rule changes in effect (universal DH, runner starting on second base in extra innings, expanded rosters, and more playoff teams), the season is set to be the most unpredictable in years. You know who else is stoked about the season finally starting? Musicians. There’s always been a romanticism between artists and baseball that makes perfect sense. Thus, we’ve summoned a panel of baseball...
