Meet the Hustle Belt baseball team

Meet the coverage team for this year's MAC baseball season. This is your home for the most comprehensive MAC baseball coverage around. It is, seriously, type "MAC baseball" into a search engine. Enjoy!

Your music entering a game as a closer:

Keith M. Scheessele (@BSUKeith): Smashing Pumpkins, Zero. Like so many others it gets you pumped up, but Zero? Perfect for a closer.

Alex Alvarado (@ARAlvarado13): Would need to be cleaned up just a little bit, but this.

Sam Barloga (@BoilerUpSam): When Worlds Collide by Powerman 5000.

Matt Hammond (@mhammon97): I've been a starter, mid relief, and closer in my day. My best success was as a starter, but if I had a song for entering as a closer it would have to be Dr. Feelgood by Motley Crue.

Matthew Gritzmacher (@gritzmac): I have never thought about this. I don't have the emotional makeup for closing. More like a long relief guy and they don't have music.

James Jimenez (@AVKingJames): "Black Skinhead (instrumental)" by Kanye West.

Corey Gloor (@CoreyGloor): Quite easily "Seven Nation Army" from The White Stripes. Is it cliche? Yes. DO I CARE? NO. I can already hear the crowd clapping rhythmically and breaking out the air guitar halfway through my warm-ups.

Jeremy O'Brien (@Jeremy_OBrien25): Welcome to the Jungle by Guns N Roses.

Your music coming to the plate:

Keith: Soundgarden, Spoonman. You can save the obvious jokes. Give it a listen if you have been living under a rock and are unfamiliar. After establishing myself as a doubles machine, fans would refer to my bat as my spoon.

Alex: SOS as #1, but you need more variety for batting, so I'll add a few. "All Falls Down" - Kanye West ft. Syleena Johnson, "Juicy" - Biggie (Start at the 0:21 mark) and "Pick Up Your Head" - Middle Class Rut (0:12 mark).

Sam: Centuries by Fall Out Boy.

Matt H.: This is a tough one. There are a lot of songs that I have thought about for this over the years, and my walkup would be Hells Bells by AC/DC.

Matt G.: Here I Go Again by Whitesnake.

James: "Helter Skelter" by The Beatles

Corey: "Bad Moon Rising" from CCR or, to really through a curveball at everyone, anything from the Treme Brass Band.

Jeremy: Cinderella Man by Eminem.

Favorite baseball book:

Keith: Eight Men Out, Eliot Asinof. Added some depth to the struggle that was growing up a Chicago White Sox fan and proved that yes, baseball gods are a very real thing.

Alex: Moneyball is good, as is The Natural. Eight Men Out is a classic, and I like The Book by Tom Tango, Andrew Dolphin and Mitchel Lichtman. My favorite? Baseball Between the Numbers by Baseball Prospectus.

Sam: Trying to think about that book from my childhood that got me into the sport, but can't think of it!!!

Matt H.: My dad is a baseball guy and he has accumulated a butt load of baseball books over the years, mainly biographies. My favorite is Hustle. It's about Pete Rose, you know, the guy who should be in the hall right now.

Matt G.: Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract.

James: Umm. I had something here. Let me get back to you.

Corey: 'Moneyball.' I just don't like reading books, guys.

Jeremy: When I began Moneyball, I couldn't put it down. I look at the game completely different now, and it's awesome.

Favorite baseball movie:

Keith: Field of Dreams. Tears.

Alex: Here's my top 5 without putting too much thought into it: The Sandlot, Major League, For Love of the Game, Field of Dreams, Cobb (honorable mention: 42, Bad News Bears (w/ Billy Bob Thornton), The Benchwarmers, Rookie of the Year)

Sam: The Rookie

Matt H.: There are a lot of candidates here, so I'll put in a list of my favorites: Major League, Field of Dreams, 42, Major League II (not nearly as good as the first, but I thought it was kind of funny)

Matt G.: For Love of the Game, though Bull Durham is a very close #2.

James: The Rookie

Corey: NOT 'MONEYBALL.' You can't just casually forget about the top of the pitching staff or Miguel Freaking Tejada and pin all the hopes and dreams of the Oakland A's on Scott Hatteberg and Chad Bradford's Gumby arm. I guess 'Field Of Dreams,' though if we're talking about movies with iconic baseball scenes, then it's pretty clearly 'Twilight.'

Jeremy: I literally like every baseball movie out there. I watched Little Big League, The Rookie, and all of those growing up. I think the Sandlot movies are still the best of all time though.

Favorite baseball video game:

Keith: RBI Baseball (NES). Grew up playing this, played it in college, and fine, played it last week.

Alex: All-Star Baseball 2003. It wasn't great for many reasons, but I always loved playing it back in the day. And I was really, really good with the Blue Jays, which for some reason seems like it's much more fun to do than it really is. Just a game I enjoyed playing before adulthood.

Sam: MLB 2K5.

Matt H.: Man, these were my passion. I stopped getting them in 2011, but I had them all. My favorite was, and still is, MVP Baseball 2005. I still play it today on the Gamecube. It's the best video game ever. My brother and I have played a ton of video games, but we are completely mutual on this one.

Matt G.: Backyard Baseball. duh.

James: MVP Baseball 2004 (GameCube)

Corey: I didn't play a large amount of baseball video games. The only one I can remember from my upbringing is one with Shawn Green on the cover. It really resonated.

Jeremy: I have an Xbox 360, so I've only ever played MLB 2K. I will buy a PlayStation one day just to play The Show.

Favorite baseball game ever attended:

Keith: I've been to 400+ so this is a tough one. Two stand out. The 2008 American League Central tie-breaker between Minnesota and Chicago (Blackout Game), and the World Baseball Classic final in 2009 between Japan and Korea in Los Angeles. Jered Weaver's no-hitter is also high on the list, but I'm only including it so you know I've attended a no-hitter.

Alex: I went to a playoff game at Comerica when Nelson Cruz beat the Tigers with my dad, uncle and one of my friends. That was fun.

Sam: Just like Keith: Blackout/Game 163 Twins vs. White Sox.

Matt H.: I've only been to 3 games in my life despite living in Kent. I know, it's pathetic. My favorite was Indians vs. Rays in 2012. We had killer seats and I saw Johnny Damon hit a triple. Also, in 2013 I saw Nick Swisher hit a triple (Josh Hamilton completely missed the ball in center).

Matt G.: Indians - Red Sox, 24 July 2007. Sabathia - Dice-K. There were ten hits in the game but it felt like five. Each pitcher went 7 innings. The Sox won 1-0 :-(. Also I got a walkoff grandslam on my birthday this year in Buffalo (AAA). That was swell.

James: July 31, 2013: "Christmas in July" promo, DET vs. WAS. I bought tickets for my grandma (a lifelong Tigers fan who had never seen a game in person) and we got free food and shirts and it was an 11-1 drumming.

Corey: Oof, I've seen a Brewers' playoff game live, which was cool. I remember a midseason Brewers-Reds game when both teams sucked that went 13 innings that was beyond entertaining. Corey Koskie got concussed and Rickie Weeks won it.

Jeremy: I went to an Indians-Tigers game for my birthday when I was about ten. The Indians were getting smacked 10-2 in the bottom of the ninth. Earlier in the game my dad asked if I wanted to leave, but I was not about to, nor will I ever, leave a game early. Alex Cora, if you even remember his name, hit a home run with two outs and my dad jogged over a few seats and caught it and gave it to me. We used to have a VHS recording of me on SportsCenter hoisting up the ball. It was awesome.

Favorite baseball player of all time:

Keith: Right now I'll say Robin Ventura. No Jack McDowell. No Ray Durham. Damn it, I'll get back to you.

Alex: Ken Griffey Jr.

Sam: Paul Konerko.

Matt H.: This is by far the hardest question. I guess for my life, it would be C.C. Sabathia. When he was with the Indians, I was just like him. A huge kid who is a left handed starting pitcher born on July 21. Yeah, we have a lot in common. My favorite player ever would be Pete Rose. He belongs in the hall. He is the best hitter ever. That is all about that. Honorable mention: Omar Vizquel, Adrian Beltre, Stan Musial, Clemente, Catfish Hunter, Mike Schmidt #MACtion, Adam Dunn, Jim Thome, and so many more...

Matt G.: Has to be Jim Thome but there's always been a special place in my heart for Josh Gibson.

James: Active player: Ichiro Suzuki. You've got to respect his game and the accomplishments he has in both the Japanese and Major Leagues. Non-active: Roberto Clemente. The man and the ballplayer were one of a kind, and it's unlikely we will ever be graced by another like him.

Corey: Of all time, you ask? I don't know if I have a favorite all-timer just yet, aside from the great Bob Uecker. But I will miss watching Paul Konerko's home run swing. Sweetest righty power swing of the decade to go along with a name that rolls off the tongue.

Jeremy: C'mon man, it's The Captain.