Jack Curry, a YES Network commentator, has been opening each pregame program with a song title that sums up the Yankees’ current situation for at least seven years.
In response to the Yankees’ redesigned roster following a hectic trade deadline, Curry selected Sting’s “Brand New Day” on August 1.
Five days later, Curry used Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror” to symbolize the Yankees’ need to examine themselves after suffering their fifth straight defeat.
Curry subtly incorporates his lifelong love of music into his everyday baseball broadcast with these selections.
However, Curry’s marriage of hobbies goes back even earlier. As a national baseball writer and Yankees beat reporter for The New York Times, he would bond with players over music.
Curry told the Daily News, “I was always looking for ways to combine music and baseball.”
Being both a center fielder and a musician, Bernie Williams was an excellent player to cover. Paul O’Neill played the drums. I spoke with David Cone a lot because he is a passionate music lover. I even recall discussing Jay-Z with [Derek] Jeter near his locker one day.
During his time at The Times from 1987 to 2009, Curry developed relationships that helped him become one of the leading authorities on the Yankees. Since joining YES in 2010, he has been as informed as anyone.
Even though they only make up a small percentage of his coverage, his modern musical references have struck a chord with Yankees supporters.
When Curry tweets a song recommendation just prior to the YES pregame show, social media users often interact with him. He will post the proposal four minutes before to the start of the broadcast, allowing viewers ample time to listen to the song if it is four minutes long.
When he goes for a run, he will also share songs that make him want to go home. Some recent examples are “God Only Knows” by the Beach Boys, “Amber” by 311, and “Rain in the Summertime” by The Alarm.
Additionally, Curry estimates that over the years, he has utilized about 1,000 song names in his opening remarks on the YES pregame broadcasts.
Naturally, I consider the baseball viewpoint before the show. Despite their recent success, the Yankees would like to be playing better. Curry, a nine-time Emmy winner, stated, “I’ll have my thoughts ready, and then I’ll come up with the song title.”
I don’t start a game by announcing, “Okay, here’s the title of my song.” What do I think about baseball? First, I have the perspective.
With an older brother named Rob who he describes as a music prodigy and a father who sang and played guitar, Curry’s passion of music began during his early years in New Jersey. Curry’s brother exposed him to bands like Devo and Violent Femmes, while his father loved Johnny Cash.
Curry, a budding sportswriter at the time, would also write record reviews for The Ram, the university newspaper at Fordham University.
Instead of an athlete, Curry’s most memorable interview at The Ram was with British punk rocker Billy Idol in 1983, just before a show on the university’s Rose Hill campus in the Bronx. In order for others in his dorm room to hear the interview, Curry was able to project it onto a speaker.
Curry recalls that Billy Idol was as cool as you could possible imagine. He took his time getting me off the phone. He must have been on a tour of who knows how many shows, yet he was still prepared to spend an hour on the phone with a college student who was simply enamored with that genre.
Curry names Bruce Springsteen as his ideal musician to interview, and he lists Cash, Bob Marley, and Joe Strummer of The Clash as late performers he wishes he could have interviewed.
Nevertheless, Curry’s objective has always been sports journalism, and it has proven successful.
Curry published or co-wrote four New York Times best-sellers, including The 1998 Yankees, and books with Cone, O Neill, and Jeter. He also spent decades with The Times and YES.
Although I did have [music journalism] in the back of my mind, Curry admitted that it would have always been a side gig or part-time job. I was certain that I wanted to work as a sports journalist. It has remained that way to this day because the music was more of a joy and a pastime.
