The Lonely Island's tribute to the Bash Brothers is unauthorized, but it does seem to be A's-approved.
The A's tweeted at the comedy trio about "The Unauthorized Bash Brothers Experience," their musical tribute/send-up of Oakland icons Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire, on Thursday night.
We made a few alterations pic.twitter.com/XaGR6txpHZ— The Lonely Island (@thelonelyisland) May 24, 2019
The "visual poem" dropped on Netflix early Thursday morning, one day before the A's returned the favor when they opened a nine-game homestand Friday night at the Coliseum. First, the A's tweeted a reference to "Let's Bash." one of the tracks from the special.
Wait. That's not a bash. Now our whole video makes no sense https://t.co/e6gjOKfIiS— The Lonely Island (@thelonelyisland) May 25, 2019
Sports
Gotta make a part two for whatever this is then sorry that's the rules
¯\_(ツ)_/¯— Oakland A's (@Athletics) May 25, 2019
Later in the game, the Coliseum actually played one. With a sign featuring Andy Samberg (as Canseco) and Akiva Schaffer (as McGwire) wearing silk robes and kimonos shown on the video board, "Oakland Nights" played over the Coliseum speakers.
Yooooo. Believe in your dreams... https://t.co/Y24w3iydqf— The Lonely Island (@thelonelyisland) May 25, 2019
The A's have bashed after hitting homers earlier in the season, but Mark Canha and some of his teammates did put their arms up like they were about to drink from a cup after his solo shot in the fourth inning. Canha told NBC Sports California's Ben Ross before the game that he had not seen the whole special, but said he was a fan of what he had seen so far.
"I've watched the two music videos," Canha said Friday. "I tried listening to some of the album today. It's funny. I'd like to engage with those guys about it on social media. I'm thinking of how I'm going to work that in. I heard through the grapevine that Andy Samberg is from the area, so that's cool.
"I think it's awesome. It's a nice tribute to [Canseco and McGwire] who are obviously legends in this area. It's nice that they're paying homage to them in a funny way. It's awesome."
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Samberg isn't the only member of The Lonely Island from the East Bay. He, Schaffer and Jorma Taccone -- who cameos as another 1980s Bay Area sports legend in the credits of the special -- all grew up together in Berkeley.
Seeing their childhood team reference their work surely tops their list of Bay bona fides.
