Did Huey Lewis' album 'Sports' tell us anything about how he managed the Giants?
Spring Training is a time for experimentation. Which, naturally, meant that '80s pop-rock icon Huey Lewis headed down to the Giants' dugout to try his hand at managing when the team took on the Cubs on Saturday afternoon. After all, maybe his unique insight would provide a template for the future of the sport, with all manner of recording artists trying it out.
This despite the singer being seen in full Cubs gear before the game, even taking some batting practice with the team. We're guessing he was trying to go undercover to gain an edge.
Huey Lewis in #Cubs uni but he will manage Giants today pic.twitter.com/ERKTVBfeZD
— Carrie Muskat (@CarrieMuskat) March 26, 2016
UPDATE: It seems to have worked, with the Lewis-helmed Giants topping the Cubs, 5-2. Before the game, we tried to see if Lewis' classic 1983 album, "Sports," could provide a guide as to how the singer would manage the team. And while we were wrong in nearly every prediction, we feel that's just some small sample size noise. Let Lewis run a team for a full season and we're confident in our analysis:
What kind of passionate speech is Lewis going to give to the Giants players to get them ready for the game? We're guessing he's going to beg for plenty of heart and hustle, grit and gumption. After all, the first two songs on the record are "Heart of Rock and Roll" and "Heart and Soul." He's going to expect uniforms are dirty and we'll put the over/under on bunts at 3.5.
No. With all those bunts, Lewis will also likely be looking to play for one run at a time, rather than the big inning. His desperation to just get someone across home plate is made startling clear in the song, "Finally Found a Home," singing "Thought I'd finally found the one." One, obviously, means one run.
Expect a quick hook from Lewis, who will likely spend a lot of his time on the bullpen phone. As he says in "Is This It?" "I've been phoning/night and morning."
Walks will also be anathemic to Lewis as he makes clear in the song, "Walking on a Thin Line." Should a pitcher start handing out free passes, you'll likely see him trotting out to the mound looking, as he sings in the song "Angry all the time/Take a look at my face/See what it's doing to me."
He'll be sure to call upon his LOOGYs and perhaps even ROOGYs as he also mentions "A specialist with a deadly skill/A skill I needed to have to be a survivor." That should mean an appearance for Javier Lopez.
Lewis is a straight shooter who's going to tell you how he sees it. While some players will surely appreciate the honesty, others may struggle. Especially when he goes to the player's parents and family to tell them his thoughts. After all, as Lewis sings in "Bad is Bad"
"In the crowd/I see his mom and dad/I say 'Hey, hey uncle/Man, your son is bad."
Of course, Lewis seems to be a little confused by the fact that a man's father is not his uncle, but that's a debate for another day.
