SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- The Rockies¡¯ Kris Bryant spent part of Thursday at the happiest place he could find: In front of a computer, communicating with folks who play the sounds of The Happiest Place on Earth.
Bryant recorded himself introducing five songs for the Disney Hits channel on SiriusXM (Channel 133, the happiest channel on earth). A father of four, Bryant delightfully told a family backstory behind the five tunes familiar to generations of parents and today¡¯s children.
¡°I didn¡¯t know what I was doing, but after I did them, I was like, ¡®You know how cool it is for my sons and daughter to hear me introduce the songs that they love?¡¯¡± Bryant said. ¡°I can¡¯t wait for it to come out. It really made my day.¡±
So here is what you will hear in your car, on the app or however you get your listening pleasure:
'Steal the Show' by Lauv
¡°It¡¯s funny, ¡®Steal the Show,¡¯ from Elemental, my oldest son, he really likes that,¡± Bryant said. ¡°Whenever it comes on the TV, he always calls me: ¡®Daddy! It¡¯s our song!¡¯ And I watch it with him. It¡¯s really fun.¡±
'This is Halloween' by The Citizens of Halloween
¡°My twin boys are really into ¡®This is Halloween¡¯ from [Tim Burton¡¯s] The Nightmare Before Christmas,¡± Bryant said. ¡°One of my twin boys has a Jack Skellington. When you press the button, it plays the songs. We press the button, and it doesn¡¯t even work anymore. He¡¯s pressed the thing so many times.¡±
'Let it Go' by Idina Menzel
Parents will tell you that child-oriented music often either touches them, or helps with strategy. Bryant and his wife, Jessica, have placed this one smash hit from Frozen in the latter.
¡°Honestly, it¡¯s more for potty training our kids,¡± Bryant said. ¡°More for my wife and me. We put them on the toilet and we sing, 'Let it Go' to them.¡±
'When Can I See You Again' by Owl City
¡°It¡¯s from ¡®Wreck It Ralph,¡¯ in the credits,¡± he said. ¡°This offseason, I was taking my son to school, and we¡¯d play it. He¡¯d sing, ¡®When Can I See You Again?¡¯ ¡ ¡®When you get done with school, buddy.¡¯ We¡¯d play it, then he¡¯d go into school and be all happy. It¡¯s really special for me.¡±
The channel approached Shelby Cravens, the Rockies¡¯ senior manager of communications, and, ¡°That was nice of Shelby to think of me to do it.¡±
It was a spot-on idea.
¡°Kids are the best,¡± Bryant said. ¡°Honestly, I really enjoy Disney -- listening to Disney songs, going to Disneyland and Disneyworld. Having kids is just another excuse for me to say, ¡®Let¡¯s do that.¡¯ ¡®Let¡¯s listen to this.¡¯ ¡®Let¡¯s watch this.¡¯¡±
OK, LET¡¯S TALK ABOUT BRYANT AT WORK
On Thursday, Bryant took five plate appearances and played six innings at first base while going between two Minor League games -- for Triple-A Albuquerque and Double-A Hartford, against like affiliates for the Angels. Bryant is 3-for-25 (.120) with a home run, five walks and seven strikeouts in 10 carefully spaced Cactus League games as he prepares for his quest to stay healthy after three years of injury, mostly to his back.
But the Cactus League is just a fraction of his activity. He has taken a couple of days, like Thursday, to get all the plate appearances and field time he wants and may do another. Thursday made sense because a guy with a tricky back can use his time better than sitting in a car driving to the other side of The Valley for the Cactus League night game against the Rangers.
He¡¯s also doing live batting practice sessions on the backfield.