The music festival, held at Tempe Beach Park on Friday, Feb. 27 and Saturday, Feb. 28, featured headliners Luke Bryan, Dierks Bentley, Kane Brown and HARDY, along with other Americana, country and indie acts, including Brothers Osborne, Shaboozey, Bret Michaels and Jessie Murph. 

Baseball and music fans alike enjoyed spring training-inspired festivities on the Baseball Field next to the Left Field Stage. The field included a batting cage and speed pitch where attendees tested their skills to see how they measure up to the big leaguers, some of whom were in attendance. MLB legends Darryl Strawberry, Jermaine Dye and Kerry Wood among others met fans as they waited in line for the baseball activities. 

The players also joined fellow MLB legend Ryan Dempster for his annual segment called “Off The Mound” where he interviews the players, as well as some of the artists performing at the festival. Dempster highlighted the importance of the intersection of music and baseball and how they bring people together.

“The way we integrate the organ and pump-up music, like you'd be in the minor leagues and if you hear ‘Centerfield’ by John Fogerty, you know a baseball game is getting ready to break out in some minor league city,” he said.

A clear example of music and baseball coming together is walk-up songs. Some songs are even associated with an entire baseball franchise. For Jermaine Dye, that was “Don’t Stop Believin’” by Journey when he played for the Chicago White Sox. 

“You never forget being in the locker room and that song playing, and those guys in there hanging out and partying with us,” he said during the segment.

Some baseball players even developed longtime friendships with music artists. Both Dempster and Kerry Wood are friends with frontman for Pearl Jam Eddie Vedder. Wood recounted how he  planned to go to a Pearl Jam concert after a day game in Chicago, but the game was switched to a night game. He told Vedder he was not able to make it to the show, but Vedder insisted that Wood come to the concert and even delayed the show just so he could see the encore. 

For some of the artists at Extra Innings Festival, their baseball roots run deep. Southern Illinois native Drew Baldridge grew up as a Cardinals fan and planned to go to college for baseball before deciding to pursue a career in country music. 

Charlie Muncaster of the duo Muscadine Bloodline went to the same high school as MLB legend Jake Peavy. The duo also collected baseball pennants growing up and now sell their own pennants as concert merchandise. Muncaster emphasized the similarities between being a baseball player and a music artist. 

“Every time you step on stage, I mean, similar to what I'm sure, stepping on a baseball diamond is like, sometimes you walk out there and you feel like you got it figured out. And you get home with a little bit [more] every time you're like, ‘Oh, I got something to learn today,’” he said. 

Baseball is especially meaningful to Bret Michaels, the former frontman for Poison. 

“It is music, sports, family, friends and fans…it makes the rock ‘n’ roll go around,” he said.

Michaels also grew up playing little league baseball and says sports saved his life. As a person with type 1 diabetes, exercise was important for him and he says he was inspired by baseball hall-of-famer Ron Santo who also lived with the condition.

“As a kid, baseball helped me to know I could do things and I’d be able to go out there and rock the world,” he said. 

Growing up in Butler, Pennsylvania, Michaels has been a longtime Pirates fan and performed a show at PNC Park twice. He also enjoys playing catch on the road and said he threw the ball around with his crew backstage at Extra Innings Festival. 

“Sports and music combined is a universal language,” he said.

Overall, Extra Innings Festival brought baseball and music fans together to share old memories and create new ones.