It’s not as simple as Shakespeare might make it out to be in Hamlet.  Do you let the situation be, or do you get involved in an indirect way, that is the question.  And this comes up much more when there is an argument or other disagreement on the field in baseball.

This question was posed by an announcer in the Alaska Baseball League where they play a game at midnight every year.  How cool is that, a baseball game at midnight and they don’t really even need the lights for it!  Anyway, the question was posed as to whether or not to play music during a verbal disagreement and that brought up some interesting responses.

SportsAnnouncing.com:  Disputes & Ejections Playlist

First, let’s take a look at how baseball differs from all of the other popular professional sports.  In baseball, replays would never be shown if it was a close play; however, football, basketball, hockey and every other sport would show the replays as much as possible.  In baseball, ejections are never announced; however in hockey, football, basketball and soccer they are while it’s the official him/herself who does so in football.  In baseball, there is a thought-process that goes back to the 90’s that you don’t play music for an argument, however in other sports music is typically playing and video boards are spurring the fans to make more noise.

In looking at the last situation, we’re going to go back to a small town with a Minor League Baseball stadium in 2001.  Falcon Park in Auburn, NY hosted an NCAA Division-III baseball regional tournament.  During one of the games, a manager got into a disagreement with the umpire and it got vocal.  During the argument, the coach was clearly heard saying things you don’t want your kids to hear however the tournament staff had asked nothing be played during arguments.  This was a mistake.  Following this situation, they asked that music be played to try to drown out the argument, though some fans may still be able to hear what was being said.

From here, it was pretty much set for us that we would play for arguments.  Prior to this tournament, we would do it anyway and have to battle with people who were on one side of the fence or the other.  After this situation in Auburn, it became a no-brainer that music should be played.

For ideas on music to play during such situations, check the list linked above.  If you have a song that isn’t listed, please let us know and we’ll be happy to add it to the list.  Leave a comment in the comments section below or send an email.