ESPN Analyst John Kruk Turns Country Rocker for July 4th Baseball Coverage

“Baseball Tonight” host recorded exclusive songs with the Davisson Brothers Band featuring “BBQs, fireworks, celebration and the teams,” he tells TheWrap

ESPN

ESPN analyst John Kruk has proven himself to be more multitalented than even die-hard baseball fans ever knew.

The “Baseball Tonight” and “Sunday Night Baseball” host who was a three-time All-Star outfielder and first baseman has teamed up with country rockers the Davisson Brothers Band to record exclusive music for ESPN’s 4th of July MLB coverage, including a special track titled “Right Here on ESPN.”

“It’s all about BBQ, fireworks and celebration,” Kruk, 54, told TheWrap. “We included the teams that are playing [over the holiday weekend].” Those matchups include the San Francisco Giants vs. the Washington Nationals, the Chicago Cubs vs. Miami Marlins, and the L.A. Dodgers vs. the New York Mets.

While not an official member of the band, Kruk is longtime friends with them from his home state of West Virginia and describes them as like family. “I just fool around with them, really,” he said.

Their latest collaboration landed a national platform when Jay Rothman, vice president in ESPN’s production department, asked him two weeks ago to write songs for the 4th of July and a rapid-fire writing and recording session in Nashville quickly followed.

ESPN
ESPN

The songs won’t get a widespread release outside of the sports network as “they are pretty specific to ESPN this weekend and they are only 45 seconds as we lead into the game,” Kruk said, “but we’re hoping to release another song — that is nothing to do with baseball, thank goodness,” he joked.

But don’t expect Kruk to be hitting the road as a professional musician anytime soon. “I’ve never sung in public,” he said. “I just thought I’d help with the lyrics and they’d do the music and sing. I’ve always been petrified of singing in front of other people.”

“The Davisson Brothers told me I need to write four more songs and we’ll put them on iTunes,” he added. “I don’t have time to run around the country [touring], but I probably will end up jumping on stage with them for a song or two at some point.”

After spending much of his playing career at the San Diego Padres and the Philadelphia Phillies up until his retirement from the Chicago White Sox in 1995, Kruk joined ESPN in 2004 and has grown into a large-as-life on-air personality.

Kruk has also had acting roles in “The Fan,” “The Sandlot: Heading Home,” “American Pastime” and “Aqua Teen Hunger Force.”

ESPN’s holiday baseball coverage begins on Friday at 2 p.m. ET. The “Baseball Tonight” set will be located atop the U.S. Chamber of Commerce building, which overlooks the White House.

“Baseball Tonight: Sunday Night Countdown” will also be on site at Nationals Park prior to “Sunday Night Baseball” on July 5, from 6:30-7:30 p.m. Kruk will be joined throughout the weekend by Dan Shulman, analyst Curt Schilling and reporter Buster Olney.

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