Put Me In Coach

Here is a drawing our roadie/bench coach Emily Jimmerson made on our weekend string of away games back in the summer.

Some people have said he looks like our old pitching coach Don "The Spitter" Spitz, but we haven't stepped on the same diamond as him in years.

Postseason Pressure

What's up everyone,
It's getting colder outside and we're catching a fever; playoff fever. We recently had our tape reviewed on Razorcake website:

http://www.razorcake.org/site/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=23715

Check it out if you are interested.

POST DIT FEST PRESS CONFERENCE

We sat down immediately after our show at DIT Fest and did our first press conference. We talked to the reporters about the game and our team, answering questions about our new songs and this years All-Star game. It felt good talking to the press after such a big victory, even though we might come off as a little camera shy.

D.I.T. FEST!

We are so pumped that we have been asked to play at D.I.T. Fest in Kent, Ohio. It takes place on September 10th and 11th and it's always a great time. The shows are at The Vineyard and Professor's Pub. For more details visit http://www.ditfest.blogspot.com/. We hope to see you there!

7th Inning Stretch

Hey everyone!

It's been a couple innings since we've given you an update. So let me get ya up to speed. Our All-Star catcher Ryan Starinsky hit the road with The Sidekicks (www.myspace.com/sidekicks) and has been filling in on bass for them on their July tour. So we've been taking a short break for the month of July. But now that August is almost here, we're about to get back into the swing of things and we have a few shows coming up:

August 6th - Columbus, OH - The Monster House w/ Evil Grimace, The New Mexico, and others.

August 7th - Fairview Park, OH - Bohlken Park Benefit Show w/ Max Stern, The Setbacks, Adam Klopp, and many others


Hopefully we'll be seeing everyone soon! Also, we're doing a second pressing of our tapes, so if you want one and haven't gotten one, let us know!! thanks for reading!!

love,
Ryan and Andy

Some More Away Games In June

Play Ball!

Hey everyone! The baseball season is in full swing, and we are about to hit the road for some more away games. If we're playing in your area, it'd be awesome to hang out! Here are the details.

June 11th - Baltimore, MD - The Frisby House w/Eddie Brock, and others tba
June 12th - Pittsburgh, PA - The Mousetrap w/Edhochuli and Plastered Bastards
June 14th - Lakewood, OH - The Soggy Dog w/tba
June 26th - Louisville, KY - 1623 Deer Ln. w/Grimace Evil and Joyride
June 28th - Lakewood, OH - The Soggy Dog w/Genesis Climber, and others tba

Hopefully we'll be seeing ya soon!!!

Love,
Ryan and Andy

Home Run!!

Our good friends at http://www.deadnuns.com/ just put up a link on their site where you can download all the songs off of our tape. There's a ton of other awesome bands on there too, like: Evil Grimace, Mustangs, Pink Houses, The New Mexico, and others. So if you're interested check that out!!!

Big thanks to everyone at Dead Nuns for putting our stuff on the site!

Upcoming Shows!

We got some away games coming up, so if you're in the area and wanna scream yourself hoarse about absurd baseball trivia with us, come on out. Here's the dates:

May 27 - Bike Haus, Cincinnati, OH w/Sundials, Pedals On Our Pirate Ships, & others

May 29 - Crucial Fun Fest, Lexington, KY w/ Laura Stevenson and the Cans, Madeline Ava, Hop Along, Sister Kisser, Candy Hearts, Pedals On Our Pirate Ships, imadethismistake, Joe Mangum

June 3 - Bat Chapters (behind Skylab), Columbus, OH w/Lose the Tude, Horrible Creeps, & Brofucker (HOME RUN DERBY, bring your bats)

...AND some mid-June tour dates to be announced soon.

Inspiration & Lyrics

Frank Thomas
Frank "The Big Hurt" Thomas was a real power batter and could certainly put a big hurt on a baseball.
"Big hurt, big hurt, Frank Thomas is the big hurt."

Roberto Alomar
2nd baseman, Roberto Alomar once spit in an umpire's face over a disputed call.
"Ump better not call me out because I'm an all-star. If he does I'm gonna spit in his face like Roberto Alomar."

Fred McGriff
Fred "The Crime Dog" McGriff was always a force to be reckoned with whether he was batting or playing the field. He also appeared on a television commercial endorsing Tom Emanski's baseball camp.
"You better not mess with the Crime Dog or else he's gonna take a bite out of you. Fred McGriff is the Crime Dog. He endorsed Tom Emanski's baseball camp."

Green Monster
The Green Monster is another name for the giant left field wall at Fenway Park in Boston.
"I'm gonna go to Boston and scale the Green Monster and rob you of a homerun."

Andre Dawson
Andre Dawson was an all-around good player with the nickname "The Hawk."
"The hawk flies high"

Moises Alou
Game 6 of the NLCS against the Florida Marlins, Alou leaps for a foul ball, reaching into the stands when a lowly Cubs fan named Steve Bartman steals the ball right out of Alou's glove. Had Alou caught the ball, there would have been two outs, instead the Marlins rally and score eight runs in that very inning and the Cubs undoubtedly lose the game and the series. Soon after, Alou left the Cubs and their decades long curse and played ball in San Francisco.
"I got robbed today by a die-hard Cubs fan. He stole the ball right out of my hands, his name is Steve Bartman. The curse lives for another day. I'm getting out of Chicago, I'm heading west to McCovey Cove."

Tim Wakefield
Pitcher Tim Wakefield undoubtedly has the best knuckle-ball in the major leagues.
"Tim Wakefield, yeah he's got the best knuckle-ball in the league."

Jim Rooker
June 8, 1989. The Pittsburgh Pirates are playing a road game in Philadelphia. The Pirates take an early lead and score ten runs in the top of the first inning. As the Phillies come up to bat, Jim Rooker, the Pittsburgh radio broadcaster, said on the air "If we lose this game, I'll walk home." The Pirates blow the lead and Philadelphia comes back to win the game 15-11. Rooker walked 320 long miles back to Pittsburgh.
"If the Pirates don't win, I'm walking home from Philadelphia. It's a long way home."

Nolan Ryan
When Robin Ventura was a rookie, he got hit by a pitch thrown by Nolan Ryan and decided it would be a good idea to charge the mound. Ventura's decision backfired as Nolan Ryan immediately put him in a headlock and commenced punching him in the top of the head. This resulted in a bench clearing brawl and a baseball moment that won't soon be forgotten.
"It would be unwise to charge when Nolan Ryan is on the mound, cuz he'll put you in a headlock and he'll take you down. Just ask Robin Ventura, he was a rookie, it was his first year. Welcom to the big leagues. Don't charge the mound."

Randy Johnson
Randy "The Big Unit" Johnson once threw a fastball that collided with a passing bird, thus sending an explosion of feathers everywhere. He also pushed over a cameraman almost immediately after landing in New York to play for the Yankees.
"Go up against Randy Johnson and you'll be at a loss for words. Go up against Randy Johnson and he'll explode you like that bird. Go up against the Big Unit and it'll be a massacre. Go up against the Big Unit and he'll explode you like that bird. I don't take too kindly to New York press."

John Rocker
Throughout John Rocker's career, he made multiple racist, homophobic, and sexist comments in interviews and other press releases. It doesn't matter who you are, you don't say things that are racist, sexist, homophobic, or hurtful. If you do, then fuck you.
"Who does John Rocker think he is? He'll never be a role model to the kids. I Don't care who you are, if you're gonna say racist shit, fuck you. You're running out of the bullpen and you're running your mouth, fuck you. Fuck John Rocker."

Dante Bichette
There's a baseball card of Dante Bichette in which he's sitting in the dugout wearing a shirt that says, "Bichette happens."
"Bichette happens."

Albert Bell
In 1996, Albert Bell plowed over second baseman Fernando Vina twice in one game when Vina was supposedly blocking Belle's path to 2nd base. Belle received a hefty fine for the incident.
"Stay outta the base path, or you'll get run down. Stay outta the base path, when Albert Bell comes to town."

Self Titled Tape

You can now download all of our songs for free from this website.

side a
1. frank thomas
2. roberto alomar
3. fred mcgriff
4. green monster
5. andre dawson/moises alou
6. tim wakefield
side b
7. jim rooker
8. nolan ryan
9. randy johnson
10. john rocker
11. dante bichette
12. albert belle

Batter Up!

Hey everyone. Welcome to the Slugging Percentage blog. In this first post we wanted to basically let people know how we came to be a band and to give some info about what's to come in the future. Ryan Starinsky and I (Andy Gardner) started this band in fall 2009 basically as a joke to write sludgy drum and bass songs about baseball oddities. Ryan plays drums, Andy plays bass and we both scream and make terrible sounds with our voices. We both dress in complete baseball uniforms, set up bases around us, have people sing the national anthem and the 7th inning stretch, and try to make it the ultimate baseball band gimmick. We played a few shows at the Monster House in Columbus, Ohio and at Brown Town in Athens, Ohio, singing songs about: Albert Belle plowing over Fernando Vina, Roberto Alomar spitting in an umpire's face, Randy Johnson hitting a bird with a pitched ball, Jim Rooker walking from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, and various other fun topics.

This February, we just recently completed a self titled cassette tape with 13 tracks on it. Big thanks to Pat from Shout out Loud Prints and to Austin from In the Pocket Tapes for helping us out BIG time. For now it's only available on cassette, but we're going to post all the songs here online really soon.

Well, that's about all the news for now. Please stay tuned for more updates as they come. Thanks so much for reading!!!

Love,
Ryan and Andy


P.S. you can download out first live set on our friend Jimi Payne's blog at http://banalization.blogspot.com/2009/10/monster-house-1017.html