Gunfire and Bling: The Dodgers Have a New Anthem in ‘Paper Planes'

The Dodgers completed their sweep of the Cubs last night, and in doing so won their first playoff series since 1988. It took them a while to get to this point, and due to their struggles early on, the team entered the post-season with the lowest win total (84) of any of the eight playoff clubs. So besides the big trade for Manny Ramirez, what turned things around? If you ask some members of the team, it might just have to do with their newly adopted theme song: the goofy (but wildly popular) "Paper Planes," by the group M.I.A.

Since superstition is a part of many baseball players' daily existence, the fact that the team has clung to this tune is not surprising. The team first played the song after a huge win over (then) division-leading Arizona, then again after a big win the following day. And it's been a clubhouse staple ever since.

"We started playing the song before games and after wins, and it kind of just took off from there," said reliever Joe Beimel ... We've been having a lot of fun for a few weeks now."

The Dodgers cheered loudly each time the song started over again, as if it actually did possess some magic power that helped their club win.

To me, listening to that song blast on repeat for the entire celebration seems like a cruel form of punishment (press play below and see if you disagree). But to the Dodgers, it represents their ride to success this season that at this point, may be tough for any team to stop.

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