The Los Angeles Dodgers World Series ring ceremony included recorded videos for each player that was shown before their name was announced to walk onto the field. The touching gesture allowed each Dodger to revel in being congratulated by a player they grew up idolizing.
Will Clark filmed a video for Clayton Kershaw, Ichiro Suzuki sent one for Edwin Rios, and Albert Pujols congratulated Will Smith. However, the highlight quickly became Bronson Arroyo playing his guitar and doing a cover of Oasis’ “Wonderwall” in a video for Walker Buehler.
“I haven’t seen it. I’ve heard it’s pretty good, so I’m excited to watch it,” Buehler said after throwing six scoreless innings in the Dodgers’ 1-0 win over the Washington Nationals.
Arroyo’s presence interrupted the string of Hall of Famers and former Dodgers. However, it was indicative of a longstanding relationship he’s shared with Buehler.
“Growing up in Kentucky, the Reds were my team, and obviously he was there for a long time. I was fortunate enough to get to rehab with him for a while when I had my elbow surgery,” Buehler explained.
“The start of my career, having him around to show me some of the ropes, it was a really cool point of my life and really cool of him to kind of open himself to get to know me and all that. I figured he would do a good job with it, and from what I hear, he certainly did.”
Though Arroyo theoretically provided Buehler with another song to use for his intro music — even if the original version — there doesn’t appear to be plans for a change.
“I’m pretty pleased with my walkout as it is,” Buehler said. “I know he’s big into music and I remember when we were rehabbing we listened to the Pearl Jam album on repeat every day. I think it was fun and I’m excited to see it.”
Buehler content with start
The World Series ring ceremony could have made for a bit of a distraction, but Buehler kept his focus and approach the same as any other day.
“For me, I just kind of eliminated it and did what I normally do. They gave me the ring after the game, which was cool in itself,” he explained. “I’m glad our team got to do that and enjoy that, but at the end of the day no matter what’s going on, we’ve got to try and win a game.”
He worked around six hits and collected four strikeouts while holding the Nationals without a run. “Mostly positive,” Buehler said of the start. “Obviously I want to strike guys out, but anytime there’s zeros up there, I’m pretty pleased.”
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