Detroit Tigers home run song makes fun of Danica Patrick

As a diehard Detroit Tigers fan who’s seen more than a few seasons of heartache, this year has been nothing short of miraculous! The team’s remarkable comeback from being well outside the playoff picture to sweeping the Astros and advancing to the ALDS is a testament to their grit and determination.

2014 was the last time the Detroit Tigers made it to the MLB postseason, but they turned things around this year by ending the regular season with a strong 31-13 record over their final 44 games. This impressive streak came after they were struggling and far outside of playoff contention, sitting at 55-63 in early August.

For the first time since 2013, I’ve witnessed Detroit making it past the playoffs! They swept the Houston Astros on their home turf in the American League Wild Card round last week, effectively ending the two-time World Series champions’ impressive streak of seven consecutive ALCS appearances.

As a gamer, I’m all geared up for our upcoming battle against the AL Central champions, the Cleveland Guardians (previously known as the Indians). The action kicks off this weekend, with two intense matches scheduled in their turf on the 5th and 8th of October. Let’s bring home the win, Tigers!

win or lose those two games, the series is moving to Detroit for Game 3 of the five-game series, marking Comerica Park’s first Tigers playoff game since October 5, 2014, which will be played on Wednesday, October 9. If another game is needed, it would take place in Detroit the following day, Thursday, October 10.

As a gamer with the Tigers, we find ourselves striving for our first ALCS appearance since 2013 and our first World Series run since 2012 – quite the wait! However, during the regular season, we ranked last among the 12 playoff teams when it came to blasting home runs. But fear not, in Game 2 of our Wild Card match against the Astros, Parker Meadows swung for the fences and connected, giving us a much-needed boost.

If the Tigers hit a home run during Game 3 or Game 4, fans at Comerica Park will be treated to a performance of a popular local tune by Detroit’s beloved hometown hero, played through the home run horn.

This year’s Tigers home run horn features a part of Eminem’s song “Venom”, which contains a couple of lines about Danica Patrick.

The song titled “Venom” was the last track on Eminem’s tenth studio album, “Kamikaze,” which was released in August 2018. This release came only a few months following Patrick’s final Indy 500 race, where she unfortunately crashed while driving car number 13.

Before 2018, she hadn’t participated in the renowned auto race known as “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” since her departure from IndyCar in 2011 and her move to NASCAR.

Here is Marshall Mathers’ reference to Patrick in that song.

“F— up the track like, what’s her name’s at the wheel? Danica Patrick, threw the car into reverse at the Indy, a nut crashin’ into ya, the back of it just mangled steel.”
Eminem, “Venom”, Kamikaze, 2018

Although “The Indy” won’t be part of the chorus, you can’t expect to hear the reference to Patrick at Comerica Park, regardless of how many home runs the Detroit Tigers (Motor City Bengals) might score next week. “The Indy,” being an odd lyric, is worth a brief discussion, but let’s move on.

Patrick’s racing career in NASCAR was marked by numerous crashes, and she consistently ranked no higher than 24th in the Cup Series point standings over five full seasons. She managed to secure only seven top 10 finishes during this time, and never once finished a race within the top 5.

On the IndyCar front, she demonstrated remarkable consistency, managing to secure a top 10 position in the standings for six out of her seven full seasons as a driver. She never dipped below 12th place in terms of points, and her average championship ranking was a commendable 8.43.

In the year 2008, Patrick emerged victorious at Twin Ring Motegi in Japan. Her best finish at the Indy 500 occurred in 2009, where she placed third. Notably, this race was won by two drivers who have amassed six Indy 500 wins throughout the 21st century: Helio Castroneves with four victories and the late Dan Wheldon with two.

As a gamer putting myself in her shoes, I raced full-time from 2009 to 2011 and completed my final 50 races. This fact might seem to challenge the popular “Crashica Patwreck” narrative. It’s been more than 16 years since my Motegi victory, making me the most recent driver to have triumphed while driving the No. 7 car.

Additionally, one of her three career runner-up finishes actually came in Detroit back in 2007.

In 2013, the rapper didn’t let that stop him from criticizing her in a different song. Coincidentally or not, “Venom” was released just after her racing career ended on the fourth turn of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval, a 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) track, on Memorial Day Sunday six years ago.

2024-10-05 16:02