WATCH: Hammer Time At The Metrodome

[Parker Hageman]

For those seeking a little nostalgia: Musical artist and parachute pants enthusiast MC Hammer posted a video of him taking batting practice at the Metrodome, donning a Twins uniform and everything. 

The former Oakland A's bat boy says he took a trip down to the Dome while he was living at Paisley Park and finishing up his 2 Legit 2 Quit album. 

The album was released in October of 1991 -- a very good year for the Minnesota Twins -- but the footage must be from the 1990 season. We see glimpses of Randy Bush (25) taking soft toss into a net, Kent Hrbek lurking in the background, and hitting coach Tony Oliva chatting it up with Hammer -- all of whom were on the team in 1991. However, it's not the 1991 squad because John Moses (1) is throwing Hammer batting practice.

Moses, who hit .276 in 3 seasons with the team, would become a free agent in November 1990 and would not return to the 1991 World Series run, signing with the Tigers instead (all-time pinch runner Jarvis Brown would acquire Moses' uniform number). Moses did more than just throw the occasional batting practice: he was one of the first iterations of position players to pitch for the Minnesota Twins. He make three appearances between 1989 and 1990 seasons, allowing 3 runs on 5 hits and 3 walks. He did not record a strikeout.

Hammer is wearing number 37 -- pitcher Paul Abbott's number. Abbott, who was a rookie in 1990, wouldn't make his major league debut until August of that year. So it's likely Hammer did not have to buy Abbott a Rolex for the use of his number.

While we're on the subject, go ahead and throw out your favorite late 1980s/early 1990s Twins' memories. Did you take BP like MC Hammer did? Did you collect empty souvenir beer cups after everyone left? Who was your low-key favorite player? Did you remember a specific game? 

[Otto von Ballpark]

Kirby Puckett made a cameo in the star-studded "2 Legit 2 Quit" music video too, at the 12:20 mark:

 

[Otto von Ballpark]

Found a GIF of Puckett from the video too -- a bunch of athletes appeared like this, as a black-and-white background to a dancing MC Hammer:

[Otto von Ballpark]

As mentioned in Parker's video, MC Hammer actually used to be a batboy for the Oakland Athletics. And he got his nickname "Hammer" from Hank Aaron:

[theBOMisthebomb]

Now there are a couple of memories that had faded almost entirely. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.

[Brock Beauchamp]

Ah, the days when popular media and stars cared about baseball. I miss those days.

[Otto von Ballpark]

2 minutes ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

Ah, the days when popular media and stars cared about baseball. I miss those days.

Who says those days are gone?

 

[Parker Hageman]

21 minutes ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

Ah, the days when popular media and stars cared about baseball. I miss those days.

And music videos. Remember music videos? Wasn't there a channel that used to play nothing but music videos on TV?

[Brock Beauchamp]

3 minutes ago, Parker Hageman said:

And music videos. Remember music videos? Wasn't there a channel that used to play nothing but music videos on TV?

Yeah, I think it was called HGTV.

[Parker Hageman]

One of the things that always gets me about watching games from that era and prior to it is the absolute lack of advertising.

Look at Metrodome. There are like three tiny advertisements on the ring between decks. The two scoreboards at the top of the upper deck were flanked by two Winston and Coke ads. 

I know we are at where we are at as a society in sports* because there is money to be made (by owners) and money to be paid (to players) but I wouldn't mind it if we went away from the constant bombardment of ads at every inch of space in the stadium and during the broadcasts. 

I was recently watching Game 7 of the 1987 World Series and comparing it to the 2019 ALDS game versus the Yankees. It's absurd how many more direct ("brought to you by...") and indirect (signage at the stadium) advertisements there is between the two eras. 

Hate sounding like an old man yelling at clouds over here but I got to think there is some effect from all of this. 

*Not just sports.

[Otto von Ballpark]

21 hours ago, Parker Hageman said:

One of the things that always gets me about watching games from that era and prior to it is the absolute lack of advertising.

Look at Metrodome. There are like three tiny advertisements on the ring between decks. The two scoreboards at the top of the upper deck were flanked by two Winston and Coke ads. 

I know we are at where we are at as a society in sports* because there is money to be made (by owners) and money to be paid (to players) but I wouldn't mind it if we went away from the constant bombardment of ads at every inch of space in the stadium and during the broadcasts. 

I was recently watching Game 7 of the 1987 World Series and comparing it to the 2019 ALDS game versus the Yankees. It's absurd how many more direct ("brought to you by...") and indirect (signage at the stadium) advertisements there is between the two eras. 

Hate sounding like an old man yelling at clouds over here but I got to think there is some effect from all of this. 

*Not just sports.

It's an interesting question, although as you note, sports are really just reflecting the societal changes.

It was truly a different world back then, when you think about advertising: no prescription drug ads on TV, no constant quirky national ads from insurance companies, far fewer phone company ads. Daily newspapers, weekly magazines, and the "Yellow Pages" were still a vital part of every household. The internet really changed marketing (including what can be marketed).

And on a technical level, TV cameras, resolution, and sometimes reception were relatively poor. A lot of our modern in-stadium / in-broadcast branding would not have shown up as well on broadcasts in the 1980s, and in-person attendance was still relatively low too. (Note how some old ballparks were plastered with ads before the popularization of television.)

There was still advertising of course, but without the internet, I think it generally still flowed into print in the 1980s, and into 30-second broadcast commercials for those who could afford it.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

On 8/16/2021 at 3:42 PM, Parker Hageman said:

While we're on the subject, go ahead and throw out your favorite late 1980s/early 1990s Twins' memories.

Not sure the exact date, it for sure looks to be post-1987, but here it is for me: 

 

Nothing screams "We won the World Series and you didn't" any more than this.