Former Boston Red Sox and Cincinnati Reds shortstop Bronson Arroyo's 2005 debut Covering the Basesincluded a cover of The Standells' “Dirty Water” with Red Sox teammates and cracked the Billboard 200. Since retiring in 2017, Arroyo has added songwriting to his arsenal, releasing the original compilation 2023 Some might say.
How do you compare playing baseball and performing with your band on stage?
It's kind of a weird thing. When you play at the highest level and win the World Series or win 15 games in a Major League season, you feel like you're on top of the mountain, doing your best work. I didn't pick up a guitar until I was 27. You never feel like you're reaching the top. It's that constant whistling of wood, being in the basement, practicing over and over again. It's not something you were born to do. You feel like it's something you're constantly trying to do to get better.
In baseball, the metrics that show hits are as objective as they can be, but in music, even when you have chart data, it's completely different, right?
Correctly. Absolutely. No one can deny if you win 15 games in a season or if you win 200. That's a good year. No one can take that away from you. Music is art and it's totally subjective to the listener… If I was one of those kids who was 5 or 6 years old at the piano and was born with that gift, being my athletic character, you might think differently. But it's this constant grind, and I enjoy it.
How does your preparation differ between pitching and performing music?
Driving to a show, it's very similar. You understand all this nervousness. You watch guys in a baseball locker room get into a routine and you watch guys in the band run through their routine. This is very similar to standing on the mound and listening to the National Anthem. Once you start pitching, it all makes it easier. It's much more intimate with music. What the [baseball] The crowd thinking about you in those moments isn't as obvious and personal as when you look people in the eye and think, “Are you singing this song with me?”
How much promotion do you do for your albums and shows?
Just a little bit. I'm not trying to make money out of it. It's always nice to have extra money, but that's not the main thing. … I did a bunch of radio interviews and newspaper articles with baseball writers and tried to get into that world a little bit and do things that wouldn't eat up too much of my time. I wasn't trying to get on a plane and stop at every radio station in the country — like I would if I was 22 and in a truck trying to push my music.
Are you on a golf trip now — are you doing music shows or is it purely a vacation?
No, it's not playing [live music] not at all. I have a guitar with me and these 10 songs we wrote, I try to play them. There's nowhere for me to go without having a — you know, those guys who do a four or mile run every day, and if they don't, it's a problem. I'm just writing now. I'll try to get 20 to 30 songs out. I don't even know what to do with them, to be honest with you. I'll just write a bunch of folk songs. Eventually, I'll get them out.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/music/country/bronson-arroyo-music-career-mlb-pitcher-chart-hits-1235605940/
