Seven Bob Seger songs that predicted Kyle Seager's $100 million extension

Coming off of Kyle Seager's first All-Star appearance and Gold Glove victory, the Mariners have locked up the star third baseman with a seven-year, $100 million extension that includes an eighth year option for between $15-20 million. 

The news shouldn't come as much as a surprise. After all, the 27-year-old Seager was fourth among Major League third basemen in fWAR and third with 25 home runs. 

But, turns out that news of this contract extension had been written about long in the past. And this time it wasn't a couple of teenagers who broke the news, but America's rock 'n roll Nostradamus: Bob Seger. 

Don't believe me? Then how can you explain these seven prophetic songs: 

Night Moves

"Workin' on our night moves
Tryin' to make some front page drive-in news
Workin' on our night moves
In the summertime
In the sweet summertime"

In this number, Seger (the singer) discusses the early days in Seager's (the player's) career where the third baseman spent countless hours taking ground balls and swinging in the cage while thinking of making "front page drive-in news." 

The usage of "night moves" is intriguing. Here Seger is comparing how amateur baseball is played in the day, while pro ball is played under the lights. And I don't need to tell you how baseball is played "in the sweet summertime." 

Like a Rock

"I was eighteen
Didn't have a care
Working for peanuts
Not a dime to spare
But I was lean and
Solid everywhere
Like a rock."

Continuing to focus on Seager's early career, here the singer tinkers with time a little by saying the infielder started his Minor League career at 18 instead of 21. The rest of the points he makes are salient though: Seager is built like a rock, stuffed with lean muscles, even while he's earning a small salary in the Minor Leagues. 

Seager's rock-like minor league performance would lead to a .387/444/.585 line in Triple-A before being called up by the Mariners. 

Against the Wind

"We were runnin' against the wind
We were young and strong, we were runnin'
Against the wind"

This one is a bit of a trifle as Bob Seger points out that the young Kyle Seager must occassionally run the bases in windy conditions. But it's rock music -- not every song needs to have hundreds of hidden meanings. 

Shame on the Moon

"Everywhere it's all around
Comfort in a crowd
Strangers faces all around
Laughin right out loud
Hey watch where your goin
Step light on old toes
Cause until you've been beside a man
You don't know who he knows."

Again, Seger returns to the idea that a professonal plays at night, or under the "moon." And Seager clearly finds "comfort" playing third base in front of a "crowd" -- he'd have to in order to hit 70 home runs with a career OPS+ of 116. 

The line "You don't know who he knows" is really interesting too. This time it refers to the players other than Seager with a career 116 OPS+. The list features Hall of Famers Roberto Alomar and Barry Larkin and current star third basemen Aramis Ramirez and Adrian Beltre among others. 

Turn the Page

"Here I am, on the road again
There I am, on the stage
Here I go, playing star again
There I go, turn the page"

Seger finally begins to sing about the contract discussions. Obviously, as a ballplayer, Seager spends half of his life "on the road." And with three straight seasons with 20+ home runs and coming off his first Gold Glove award, Seager surely is "playing star again." 

Seger does take a little artistic license here. Because he wants to sing about how $100 million contracts involve dozens of pages of legalese, necessitating the line "Turn the page," he needs something that rhymes with it. Since "ballfield" doesn't, Seger uses the term "stage."

Still, obviously about Kyle Seager. 

Betty Lou's Getting Out Tonight

"Have you heard the news
It's all over town
If you ain't heard it boys
You better sit down"

Here Seger takes on the rumor mill. With talk of Seager's contract flying all over Twitter, Seger says that the news is "all over town." And if you haven't heard that the third baseman is going to receive $100 million, well, "you'd better sit down." 

Beautiful Loser

"He wants to dream like a young man
With the wisdom of an old man
He wants his home and security
He wants to live like a sailor at sea."

Seger now plays with the very idea of a "Beautiful Loser" -- because obviously Seager is anything but a loser. Only 27, Seager is using his "wisdom of an old man" in achieving "home and [financial] security with this contract that will keep him in Seattle well into the next decade. 

Seger closes the stanza powerfully, leaving no room for misinterpretation. Here he sings that Seager "wants to live like a sailor at sea." And what's a sailor at sea? A Mariner. 

It's as simple as that. 

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Next time: How Madonna has famously predicted every World Series since 1986 and why Nirvana's "Nevermind" is actually about the 1932 Cardinals.