【2020 Archives】

Baseball players having fun with their walk-up music020 Archivesnothing new, but the Washington Nationals exposed much of the world to one of the strangest ballpark traditions we've ever seen on Friday night.

In the midst of a 4-1 loss in Game 3 of the World Series against the Houston Astros, tens of thousands of Nats fans rhythmically chomped their hands together along with "Baby Shark." Yes, the un-killable and bizarre children's song echoed throughout an entire major league stadium in the middle of a World Series game.

Just see for yourself.

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This attracted a ton of attention on Twitter, and for good reason. It's a strange thing to see. That said, baseball fans are a little more used to it than the general public. "Baby Shark" first appeared at a Nationals game in June, when outfielder Gerardo Parra used it as his walk-up song as a tribute to his young daughter, according to NBC Sports.

Parra broke a long streak without any hits that day and, from June onward, the previously inconsistent Nationals went on a miraculous run to the franchise's first World Series appearance against the favored Astros. Fans embraced the song as something of an anthem for a team that became one of the best stories in sports.

While Friday night's "Baby Shark" performance was nothing new, the World Series gave it a much bigger audience than it had previously. The Nationals host the next two games in the series on Saturday and Sunday nights, so expect to see it again whenever Parra approaches the plate.

In the meantime, this is a good opportunity to learn about the history of the song itself. "Baby Shark" has been around for about a century with no clear point of origin, but recent internet fame has contributed to legal disputes over who deserves credit.

We live in a strange and endlessly fascinating world.

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