In my preparation for spring training and the upcoming baseball season, I decided to find the Beatles album equivalent to current Brewers players. I used only starters or expected starts, staring pitchers, the closer, and the bullpen as a whole. I broke down the Beatles albums as they came to me in the recent Beatles Stereo Box Set. I further broke down the White Album and the Past Masters albums into separate disks so I could use more Brewers players. Here we go!
Please Please Me: The Beatles debut album compares best to Casey McGehee. Casey had a great rookie season in 2009. Please Please Me is on of the great debut albums in music history. While Please Please me was recorded in a very short amount of time, Casey put up his numbers a relatively few at-bats. He did not start to get any consistent playing time until May and then still did not really play full time. Please Please me is peppered with Lennon/McCartney originals as well as 6 cover songs. Casey split his time between second and third base last year.
With The Beatles: The Beatles sophomore effort compares best to the Brewers new center fielder Carlos Gomez. In my opinion, With the Beatles does not possess to many memorable songs; songs that you might still hear on the radio. Carlos Gomez will probably have little offensive impact on the Brewers. He should not bat high in the order as does not take many walks or hit for good average. However, Carlos Gomez is probably a superstar defensively. With the Beatles does have some of the bands finest cover songs and certainly is enjoyable just as Carlos will be fun to watch on defense.
A Hard Day's Night: Yovani Gallardo best matches the soundtrack to the Beatles first movie. It was the young Beatles first true masterpiece. Yovani is the Brewers ace pitcher while also being the youngest starting pitcher on the staff. Yovani is fun to watch pitch and hit. A Hard Day's Night is the only Beatles album to contain solely Lennon/McCartney songs. Many of the songs on this album still endure. Hopefully Yovani can also endure and stay with the Brewers for years to come.
Beatles For Sale: the Brewers young starting pitcher, Manny Parra, is the call here. The album starts out with a trio of mark songs written by John Lennon. Manny Parra has not had the bright start to his career that many Brewers fans had hoped for. unlike the previous album, Beatles For Sale is not a masterpiece even though it was now clear what the Beatles were capable of. This album also contains six covers songs when the Beatles were capable of more. Manny Parra has the potential to be great, but for the most part, has not lived up to his potential.
Help!: This comparison goes out to the entire Brewers bullpen, not just because of the appropriate title. The Brewers bullpen in 2009 was pretty solid outside of being overworked from time to time. Help! has some very solid Beatles compositions such as "Yesterday" and "Ticket to Ride" as well as a clunker or two and end with a cover song that I find annoying. Usually a bullpen is kind of hit or miss as well and there a few pitchers you never really want to see.
Rubber Soul: One of the Beatles absolute best albums goes to one of the Brewer's essential hitters, Ryan Braun. It was with this album that the Beatles started to consistently create memorable music. There are no throw away songs on this album. Ryan Braun is also consistanly great, rarely going into a hitting funk. Every one of Ryan Braun's at-bats is a must see event because of what he is capable of. It is with Rubber Soul that the Beatles start to experiment and sets up perhaps their greatest triumph just as Ryan Braun bats in front of the Brewers most feared hitter.
Revolver: Prince Fielder is the Brewers best hitter. He hit for average and power in 2009 while drawing over 100 walks, a big accomplishment. I believe that Revolver is the Beatles best album and is one of the great accomplishments in music history. There are some revolutionary things going on in Revolver including backwards tapes. Prince Fielder was the youngest player to ever hit 50 home runs. He has shown that he is no fluke and his 2009 season made him one of the elite hitters in baseball. The Beatles already were an elite band when Revolver came out but this made them THE elite band.
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band : The Beatles most iconic album goes to the Brewer's big off season acquisition, Randy Wolf. Randy Wolf had a career year in 2009 in time to get a big payday. Sgt. Pepper's is the Beatles big payday. They made back to back masterpieces with Rubber Soul and Revolver. Sgt. Pepper's was automatically called the best album ever because of what was expected from the Beatles. However, I think this album is overrated and has some moments that are not solid. Randy Wolf. is by no means the savior of the Brewers nor should he be expected to be. I think he will be very good but not spectacular.
Magical Mystery Tour: This underrated album compares to Doug Davis. This album is probably just as good if not better than Sgt. Pepper's yet it is never recognized as so. Doug Davis is a solid pitcher whose signing only made a minor splash. He will be just as important to the Brewers 2010 season as Randy Wolf. Magical Mystery Tour contains music by the Beatles that had already been released as singles. Doug Davis is a familiar face to Brewers fans as he will be making his second tour of duty with the team.
The Beatles, Disc 1: The White Album probably has too many songs as it like the Brewers have too many starting pitchers. Dave Bush is the pitcher that comes to the first disc of The Beatles. The first disc has most of the album most memorable tracks yet still suffers from a few poor ones (come on George, "Piggies"?). Dave Bush has pitched some of the Brewers best performance in the past couple of years including a near no hitter or two. Previous to his injury last year, he was mostly solid but was susceptible to the big inning. I hope he returns to his pre-injury self in 2010 as the Beatles came back for their next LP release.
The Beatles, Disc2: The Brewers new catcher, Gregg Zaun, compares to the second half of the White Album. There is not a lot to get excited about on the second half except for "Helter Skelter" and maybe "Revolution 1." There is not a whole lot exciting about Zaun except for him being replaced by the end of the year by one of the Brewers young catching prospects, hopefully. Zaun is a veteran and handle a pitching staff well for whatever that's worth. He is a place holder just as the second half of the White Album holds place to the Beatles artistic overflow of the time.
Yellow Submarine: The only truly disposable Beatles album compare to pitcher Jeff Suppan. The second half of the album is the orchestrated soundtrack which almost no one cares about. Jeff Suppan is the player on the Brewers that most people wish would be off the team. He usually has a negative impact on the game. However, he is a vetern and occasionally throws a gem. George Harrison drops a gem on Yellow Submarine with "It's All Too Much."
Abbey Road: The Beatles studio finale is comparable to the Brewers closer, Trevor Hoffman. Abbey Road is the Beatles final masterpiece. 2009 was one of the all time saves leader's best seasons in his very long career. I think Abbey Road has the best production of any Beatles albums perhaps because of all the time the Beatles had put in the studio before making that album. Trevor Hoffman comes across as a true professional perhaps because he is one of baseball most veteran players. He is on the last legs of his fine career just as the Beatles were on theirs when they recorded Abbey Road.
Let It Be: This album compares to current Brewers fan whipping boy, Corey Hart. Let It Be might be the most disliked, especially critically, of any Beatles album. The album has many strong points but certainly it's share of flaws such as "Dig It" and "Maggie Mae". Corey Hart has shown some flaws in his game recently. He also has not endured himself to fans by complaining about booing. If Corey focused on his game, he has a lot of tools to do great things like another 20?20 season or even a 30/30 season. Let It Be closed out the Beatles releases. If Corey Hart can't turn his game around, 2010 will probably be his last as a Brewer.
Past Masters, Disc 1: The first Disc of the Beatles odds & sods album compares to the Brewers young shortstop, Alcides Escobar. Alcides has a lot of potential to be a solid major leaguer, especially as a defensive wizard. The first disc of Past Masters has some of the young Beatles most memorable songs. It also has many B-Sides that do not match their famous A-sides. Escobar will most likely not be an offensive machine in 2010 and be protected as a B-side is protected by the strong A-side of a single. However all the potential.
Past Masters, Disc 2: The second disc of hodge podge compares to the often injured Rickie Weeks. This album is probably as loaded as any Beatles record. However it is a compilation. Rickie Weeks has shown brilliance at times but either falls off his production or get injured. Many believed he had the same abilities as either Prince or Ryan Braun. He played like it for the first month and a half in 2009 before injuring his wrist and missing the rest of the year. While Past Masters has so many memorable tracks, it does not necessarily flow very well and has a few toss away b-sides such as "The Inner Light," "Old Brown Shoe," and You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)." Hopefully Rickie can put a full season together with his potential be comparable to a full album in the future instead of bits and pieces of various works.
Hopefully this will be the first in a line of comparisons of various artists and album to sports players, teams, and other pop culture things which I enjoy. I am always trying to think of new things to write and new views to find wit music.
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This is great!
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