Eric Thames’ Korean Cheer Song Comes to Milwaukee

Brewers first baseman Eric Thames, who spent the previous three seasons playing in Korea, has been the talk of MLB so far this season with his league-leading 11 home runs. He also leads the league in Slugging Percentage (.870) and OPS (1.354); is tied for first in Runs (28) and Extra-Base Hits (17); and is second in On-Base Percentage (.484) and Total Bases (67).

Oh, and Thames’ 11 Home Runs and 28 runs scored are the most in franchise history for the month of April, too.

While in Korea, Thames played for the NC Dinos of the Korean Baseball Organization and batted .348 with 124 HR, 379 RBI and 64 SB. He was even named the KBO MVP in 2015 (.381, 47 HR, 140 RBI, 40 SB).

With stats like that, it’s no wonder he earned the nickname “God” there and still has legions of fans.

While in Korea, Thames also picked up a fantastic cheer song, which he says, was played not as his walk-up music, or after he hit a homer, but during his at bats.

The tune is the incredibly catchy “Colonel Bogey March” composed by Lieutenant F.J. Ricketts (1881–1945), a.k.a. Kenneth J. Alford of the British Royal Army back in the year 1914, and the NC Dinos created their own version, complete with these lyrics:

Eric Thames! Crush that ball!
Eric Thames! Crush that ball!
Eric Thames! Homerun!
Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh~~
(repeat x2)

While some of Thames’ teammates had caught wind of the song, which has been making the rounds on the internet over the last week or so, many had yet to hear it, so we let them listen to get their reactions:

Not only do Thames’ teammates want to hear the song at Miller Park, but there has also been a strong groundswell in the Twitterverse calling for the same. So, we reached out to the NC Dinos and we’re making it happen.

Now, we’ll just sit back and wait for Thames to do his thing. Start practicing your ooooo — oooo — oo-oo’s!

@CMoyer