Connelly is the Red Sox music director, the person in charge of the tunes you leave the park singing to yourself. The former Improv Asylum DJ knows just what David Ortiz wants to hear during batting practice and also how to get you on your feet after Big Papi hits a home run into Boston's bullpen.
Connelly recently spoke with NESN.com.
NESN.com: How long have you been the Red Sox music director, and how did you get the job?
TJ Connelly: I started in 2005 as a backup DJ for my predecessor and worked a bunch of games over the next few years, and then she retired and on Opening Day 2008, I started the gig.
I got the job in kind of an odd way: I wrote letters. I used to work at the Improv Asylum in the North End, where my job was also anticipating what was going to happen and playing music that has to do with it. I came to a game and realized they have a person that does my job for the Red Sox and that I should totally do that.
So I wrote letters once a year to a friend of mine that worked for the Sox just saying if you ever want a day off let me be a backup. I wrote one in 2003, 2004 and then in 2005, they called before I even sent the letter. Right around Opening Day, they brought me in for interviews and auditions, and here I am. It's literally a dream come true.
NESN.com: Take us through a typical day of work and how do you decide what music you play?
TJC: When we get here we get an outline of what's going on during the game — a script that says what the video boards we'll be doing and what the audio is going to be.
I think of it like making mix tapes for people. You're pretty much trying to keep the crowd interested and energetic, so you can't make huge leaps in the energy level. If it's quiet, you can't just play something loud and expect people to get into it, you have to build to it. Likewise, if things are awesome and you play some bummer of a thing, it lets the air out.
Basically, you have no idea what's going to happen in a baseball game, but we know what we are going to do during our breaks. So you try to go back and forth with the game. You try and guide and get a wave going so things are building up. You can start off a little quieter as people are getting in their seats, and as the game goes on and things get more exciting, you build up and ultimately get people on their feet.
NESN.com: What about batting practice?
TJC: I follow what the players enjoy to the best of my knowledge. Usually I start with more country and rock and kind of slower, more chill 90's hip-hop. Then I might go up into metal, something that is more hard rock. Then when the last group comes out, that's David Ortiz's group, it's reggaeton and more hard-hitting hip-hop — you know, big beats.
How do you pick the players entrance music?
TJC: Mostly they pick it. They get to choose across the board. There are really only a handful of players where I've picked for them at this point. Jacoby Ellsbury for the first two years was "Cherub Rock" by the Smashing Pumpkins just because he was always leading off, that drum intro is really good. When I was doing the backup gig, Mike Lowell was into The Clash and he was walking out to "Rock the Casbah." The Clash is fine, but I was like "'let's walk him out to "London Calling,"' that's got that hard hit to it.
I have a small basket of decent intro songs that I try and keep for relief pitchers when they come in, that can be a very crucial moment to get the crowd up. Most of the pitchers don't have songs, so we find something to get people into it.
NESN.com: Do they rotate their songs during the year?
TJC: Some of them keep the same song forever, like Jason Varitek is very well known for having the same 3 Doors Down song forever. Some guys change it twice a homestand, it kind of depends on the individual guy. Some guys don't even request music at all, like Marco Scutaro and J.D. Drew. They would rather walk up just to an intro and nothing else. Alfredo Aceves has 12 intro songs that we rotate through — its called "Aceves' Dozen."
What's the story behind Sweet Caroline and do you even like the song anymore?
TJC: Nobody is entirely sure about the story behind it. The way it was told to me is that once upon a time, someone in the front office had a daughter named Caroline, and whoever was the DJ at that time played it. The fans were kind of into it, so they just played it every once and awhile. There was no every day yet, that just came around in the last few years, but that was already an everyday institution before I got here.
As far as listening to it, here it's great, it gets people into it, people are singing along. Nothing is better than 40,000 people singing along to something, that's fantastic. It grates on me if I'm at a wedding and I hear it, I'm like 'Yeah that's a good song, I'm familiar with it.'
What is your favorite Fenway Park moment?
TJC: There are a lot. It's definitely a hard thing to nail down. One of the best games I ever played, that was incredible to watch, was the 2008 ALCS Game 5. When the Red Sox were down 7-0 and then came back and won it. You know Ortiz with the three-run homer, that was one of the most intense days here. I remember I was practically shaking from excitement, anxiety and total involvement, trying to decide what to play. We scripted a lot more things for the playoffs, and then the late-inning rally happened and it was like here we go, totally off the page, let's go for it.
