To the victor go the spoils, and on Friday afternoon, the Los Angeles Dodgers got their rings for winning the 2020 World Series. The Dodgers played host to the Washington Nationals for the first game in front of fans at Dodgers Stadium in 18 months, making it the perfect occasion to celebrate the team’s win last year.
Amid the festivities, someone who never played for the Dodgers got a moment to shine. Bronson Arroyo — who played for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Boston Red Sox, Cincinnati Reds, and Arizona Diamondbacks in an extremely respectable 16-year career — grabbed his trusty guitar and offered up a tribute to Dodgers pitcher Walker Buehler. It involved him getting extremely, uncomfortably close to a camera, a background that had the sun shining through some trees, and of course, a cover of “Wonderwall” by Oasis. It rules.
Bronson Arroyo’s love letter/rock tribute for Walker Buehler. pic.twitter.com/Zm53qyuvl0
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) April 9, 2021
And now, an attempt at trying to figure out exactly what is going on here. Buehler, a native of Kentucky, grew up a Reds fan, and has spoken in the past about how he really loved watching Arroyo pitch.
“Yeah, I was a huge Reds fan growing up. [Aaron] Harang and Bronson Arroyo and [Johnny] Cueto,” Buehler once told the Cincinnati Enquirer about pitchers he emulated growing up. “My grandfather was from Detroit, so we were big Justin Verlander fans as well. Seeing some kind of stuff – the way him and I throw – I think that’s probably the most similar mechanically to me. You know I’ve kind of taken things from all of those guys.”
Folks who remember Arroyo’s pitching days might recall that he was also quite the musician, once releasing an album called Covering the Bases that featured this very respectable cover of “Everlong” by Foo Fighters. He has also done live shows where he has covered “Wonderwall,” and truthfully, he does a very nice job with it.