Indie rocker Faye Webster has spent a lot of time thinking — and singing — about Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr.
While off the road from touring her 2019 album “Atlanta Millionaires Club,” Webster — a native of Atlanta — found herself with a lot of free time. She spent much of it watching the Braves. On some nights she would stream the games on Hulu Plus, to which she subscribed just to watch her favorite team. When she felt more nostalgic, she turned on the radio and listened to the broadcasts, something she had done frequently growing up. Webster quickly began to take notice of Acuña Jr., then a rising superstar, who sparked her creativity.
“It wasn’t like I wanted to write a song about baseball,” Webster told ESPN in July. “It was like I’m writing about this because this is all I’ve done this year. It just consumed my life, the Braves.”
A distant crush developed. She had made-up conversations in her head with Acuña, and began wearing his team’s jersey on a daily basis. She felt compelled to put her thoughts about Acuña on paper, which eventually turned into the song “A Dream With a Baseball Player” — a single off her critically acclaimed record “I Know I’m Funny haha,” which the music site Pitchfork recently named the 11th-best album of 2021.
“I could just meet him and get it over / Or I’ll just keep wearing his name on my shirt / Whatever I need just to help me cope,” Webster sings. “How did I fall in love with someone / I don’t know?”
After she first released the song — as a single in 2019 — the Braves invited her to sing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” during the seventh-inning stretch. Webster grew up going to Braves games with her dad and family. She felt nervous while on the field at Truist Park for batting practice before her performance, googling the lyrics to the baseball anthem and reading them, over and over again.
“It’s like, you know the lyrics, what am I doing?” Webster…
Source : espn
