Introduction (For the Grown Ups)

Tonight we have a story about a closer, some music, and the benefit of routines. If this is your first time reading Bedtime Sports, (or you need a refresher) check out our "How To" post.

Questions in orange are designed to spark a conversation. Encourage your audience to participate, but also feel free to answer the questions yourself and incorporate answers into the story.

The man dancing emoji (🕺) indicates a section where you can add kinetic elements to the story. Mime an action and encourage your audience to join in.

Happy story telling!

The Story: Edwin's Trumpets

A closer, trumpets, and the best entrance music in baseball

(5 minute read)

At the very end of a baseball game, after the 6th inning (when the people who are "just married to a Mets fan" make us go home if we are at the game) , after the 7th inning stretch when everyone sings "Take Me Out to the Ball Game," and usually, long after you have gone to sleep, the team that is losing gets one last chance, one last at-bat to try and tie or win the game.

And because the other team has that one last chance, most baseball teams find the toughest, nastiest, hardest-to-hit pitcher on their team and save them for that very last inning.

That pitcher is called the closer. When they’re done pitching - the game is over.

They close the door.

What do you think would make a pitcher so tough, so nasty, so hard-to-hit?

Edwin Diaz is the Mets closer.

He throws a fastball that comes in at 100 miles per hour, and a slider that drops like a rock.

But since he’s the closer, he never actually starts the game when everyone else does. He gets ready just like everyone else, watches all the fans come into the stadium, hears the national anthem, and sees the first pitch like everyone else, but then he sits down, and he waits. Everyone else is running, and pitching, and hitting, and playing, but Edwin Diaz waits. He waits through the first inning, and the second, the third and the fourth, watching to see if the Mets pull ahead. If they’re winning, he’ll wait through the fifth, the sixth, the seventh inning stretch, and right around the eighth inning, the coach in the dugout will get on a special phone, and call out to the bullpen, way out in the outfield where the relief pitchers warm up. Ring, ring. Ring ring. “Start warming up Edwin. You’re about to come in!”

What would start going through your head if the coach called you and said, “Start warming up, You’re about to come in!”

In order to be a good closer, you need to be completely focused, so even if you’re excited or nervous, you need to find a way to calm down, a way to get in the zone. Closers will take a couple deep breaths, throw a couple practice pitches, and then when it’s time, come into the game.

But closers can’t just walk into the game. Remember how I said that the bullpen is all the way out in the outfield?

(The above link is to an image of Citi Field if you want to point out where the bullpen is. Instagram integration into stories will be coming soon!)

That means that when a closer comes into the game, they need to run all the way from the outfield to the pitchers mound. So most pitchers pick something called an entrance song to play as they run across the field. It’s something to help them get excited, get the crowd excited, and more than anything, the final piece of their routine to get them focused and ready to close the game. When the entrance song comes on, everyone, from the fans, to the batters, to the pitcher themselves knows that it is time to close out the game.

If you were a closer, what song would you choose for your entrance music?

Edwin Diaz uses an entrance song called “Narco” by Blasterjaxx & Timmy Trumpet. It rocks. Since all this usually happens after you're asleep, do you want to try imagining it together? Close your eyes and picture this:

The players are running on and off the field between innings. The fans are settling in and getting ready for the last half inning of baseball. There’s a little intro beat - dun dada dada, dun dada dada, and then a single, clear, sharp trumpet begins to play, Doo rata doo, Doo rata doo, Doo rata doo rata doo rata doo.

Do you want to try? Sing it together with me:

Doo rata doo, Doo rata doo, Doo rata doo rata doo rata doo

That was great! If you’re at the stadium, Mr. and Ms. Met get real trumpets and jump up on top of the dugout to lead the band. The fans around you grab their imaginary trumpets to play along. People start sending trumpet emojis to their friends to let them know it’s Edwin Diaz time. Do you want to try again with an imaginary trumpet?

🕺🕺mimic playing a trumpet. See if your child will play one as well🕺🕺

dun dada dada, dun dada dada. Doo rata doo, Doo rata doo, Doo rata doo rata doo rata doo.

That was awesome. How did that make you feel? As Narco keeps playing, there are more drums and more bass and more trumpets and the crowd get's more and more excited.

What do you think it feels like inside the stadium as everyone is clapping, and dancing, and playing along?

At some point, as the fans play the trumpets and clap to the beat, the announcer will say, "Your attention please, now entering the game, number 39, Edwin Diaz!" And the music will crescendo as the crowd cheers.

The whole time, Edwin Diaz keeps getting ready until finally the music fades out and he’s ready to close out the game.

Whew.

Just like Edwin Diaz, you have all types of routines in your life.

What are some of your routines?

You probably have bedtime routines, wake up routines, go to school routines. These all help us to get ready to do the things we need to do, and help us to focus, and not get distracted. Tonight, I want you to dream about trumpets, and tomorrow, we can try playing “Narco,” or maybe one of your entrance songs as you kick off your own routines.

Which routine do you want to try with a song tomorrow?

I'm excited to try that with you. Goodnight sport.

Sources and Videos

Video & Audio of Edwin Diaz Entrance (with Mr. & Mrs. Mets on Trumpets):

For more reading on Edwin's conversion from starting pitching prospect to closer, and his first entrance song, check out this piece by Eddie Matz at ESPN.

And for a little bit about the Edwin's current attachment to Narco, this piece by Anthony DiComo at MLB.com

Art & Illustrations

Edwin Diaz headshot via Statmuse.com player profile.

Citi Field Illustrated by Brian Callaghan. Prints of various ballparks, athletes, and musicians available on his website.

Cue the Trumpets and The Diaz Neon both created by the incomparable Dan Abrams at Athlete Logos. Check out his site here, or shop for Mets themed T's and mugs at the Queens Collection.

Stat Chat

A Save is when a pitcher comes on and closes the game for a team that is winning by three runs or less. (More or less) It became an official baseball statistic in 1969.

The all time leader in Saves is Mariano Rivera of the Yankees with 652 saves over a 19 year career. The record for saves in a single season (162 games) is held by Francisco Rodriguez of the Los Angeles Angels with 62.

This season after 86 games Edwin Diaz has 18 saves, and 191 total in his 7 year career.

Do you think Edwin Diaz will set a Saves records?

Does getting a lot of saves mean someone is a good closer? Why or why not?

Vocab

Crescendo: (krəˈSHenˌdō/) The loudest point reached as something gradually gets louder and louder. "The music will crescendo as the crowd cheers"

Slider: a type of pitch that "breaks" or moves down and sideways as it travels toward the plate. It's slower than a fastball, but faster than a curveball.

"He throws a fastball that comes in at 100 miles per hour, and a slider that drops like a rock."

In the zone: being in a state allowing you to perform to the best of your abilities without distraction or difficulty.

"In order to be a good closer, you need to be completely focused, so even if you’re excited or nervous, you need to find a way to calm down, a way to get in the zone."

Additional Activities

Coloring

What does your bedtime routine look like? Do you brush your teeth as part of getting ready for bed? What if you played "Narco" every time you brushed your teeth? Download this coloring page and draw a picture of your reflection in the mirror while brushing your teeth. Share your pictures with us on Instagram or Twitter.

Activity

What entrance song would you pick for yourself? How about your grown up? Take a video of your grown up doing a routine with their entrance song in the background, and share it on Instagram or Twitter (be sure to tag us!) With their permission, you could even make a video of yourself.

More Story Ideas

Edwin Diaz uses music as part of his warmup routine. You could tell a story about...

• The music you use for a routine at work, or when you used to play a sport. What song is it? Why did you pick it? How did or how does it help you?

• What's a song that reminds you about a specific thing or time in your life? How come?

• What's a routine that you use to get ready, or get something done? You can do something as mundane as explaining your own bedtime routine - in all likelihood, your kid has never seen you do it!

• What's a routine that you were terrible at (or are still terrible at?)