Dodgers closer Kimbrel walks out to ‘Let It Go’
Sep 7, 2022, 1:53 PM | Updated: 1:57 pm
Los Angeles Dodgers relief pitcher Craig Kimbrel throws to the plate during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2022, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
(AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles Dodgers closer Craig Kimbrel is taking the mound to the song “Let It Go,” known to millions as the big hit from the movie “Frozen.”
The 2013 animated Disney movie beloved by kids tells the story of a princess who journeys to find her estranged sister accompanied by an iceman, his reindeer and a snowman.
Hardly the kind of intimidating music preferred by many of the majors’ closers, whose job it is to slam the door in the ninth inning and preserve a victory.
But “Let It Go” seems to be working.
Since Kimbrel’s wife, Ashley, suggested the tune, the 34-year-old right-hander hasn’t given up a hit in his last six games as the song blares from Dodger Stadium’s speakers.
Some of the lyrics seem appropriate given Kimbrel’s struggles at times to settle into his role, having replaced longtime closer Kenley Jansen this season.
“Turn away and slam the door, I don’t care what they’re going to say,” actor Idina Menzel croons in the song that reached the top five on the Billboard Hot 100 and won an Oscar and a Grammy.
“And the fears that once controlled me can’t get to me at all. It’s time to see what I can do. To test the limits and break through. No right, no wrong, no rules for me. I’m free.”
Jansen, who signed with Atlanta in the offseason, used to enter to 2Pac’s “California Love.”
Éric Gagné, the Dodgers’ career saves leader, cast a fearsome air backed by the raucous sounds of Guns N’ Roses’ “Welcome to the Jungle.”
San Diego Padres closer Trevor Hoffman went the same hard rock route with AC/DC’s “Hells Bells.”
“Let It Go” has fans singing along as Kimbrel enters the game.
Kimbrel is 22 for 26 in save chances this season, but it’s the ones he’s blown that have drawn fans’ ire and caused manager Dave Roberts to defend him.
Kimbrel is the majors’ active career saves leader with 394. He is seventh on the all-time list.
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