SARASOTA, Fla. -- A common theme emerged from the music playlist blaring on the backfields of the Ed Smith Stadium complex on Monday, when the Orioles held their first full-squad workout.
Every song was post-grunge alternative rock music, featuring the likes of Nickelback, Creed, Three Days Grace, Stone Temple Pilots, Goo Goo Dolls, 3 Doors Down and more. ("Rockstar" by Nickelback and "One Last Breath" by Creed were even played twice apiece in a span of less than two hours.)
When that list was shared on social media, many O's fans wanted to know: Who is picking the camp music this Spring Training?
"Yesterday was Pete [Alonso]," manager Craig Albernaz revealed Tuesday morning.
No, Alonso's five-year, $155 million contract didn't come with a clause that makes him the team's DJ. It was his turn in a Spring Training version of a "pass the aux" game that the Orioles are playing this year.
It began last week, when right-hander Kyle Bradish chose the playlist for the first workout featuring pitchers and catchers last Wednesday. Bradish got to pick who would be the DJ the next day, and so on and so forth.
"Now, it's a domino effect," Albernaz said. "It's player's choice."
It's a simple game, and Albernaz instituted only one rule.
"The only thing I asked was clean music -- try to make it clean music," Albernaz said. "I heard there was a little bit of a hiccup one day early, we weren't out here yet. So we made the adjustment. But we want clean music, and yeah, dealer's choice out there."
Albernaz is running his first camp as a big league manager, and he's still getting to learn his players. This game provides another opportunity for him to do so.
For example, Albernaz now knows the 31-year-old Alonso is a fan of the genre of music some may refer to as "dad rock." Alonso picked catcher Samuel Basallo to be the DJ on Tuesday, with "Gasolina" by Daddy Yankee, "Hips Don't Lie" by Shakira and a heavy dose of Latin music in rotation from the 21-year-old, who is a native of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
"I like all music," Albernaz said. "You get insight of who the player is, right? And it's cool to see, like, is it going to be the genre of music that that player loves, or is he going to appeal to the masses, right? Or it's going to be both, he's going to have a bunch of different setlists and playlists. That's the beauty of it."
And don't worry, the 43-year-old Albernaz is ready in case he gets a turn sometime soon.
"I don't know if I could find clean stuff," Albernaz joked. "Anyway, if it was passed to me, it would be a hodgepodge of old-school hip-hop and house music."
Unsurprising, considering Albernaz posted lyrics to a Tupac song on social media when it was announced last month that the Orioles would be giving away a Tupac bobblehead at Camden Yards on May 8.
As much as Albernaz is enjoying getting to know his players, the guys in the O's clubhouse have quickly become fans of their new skipper and the Spring Training environment he's set up in the past week-plus.
"Super fiery guy," outfielder Tyler O'Neill said. "He's very player-focused. And that's what we want to show up to see. We want a guy that cares for us and he's going to be in the dogfight with us, and obviously, I can tell from his personality that that's the way it's going to be."