[Verse 1: flat-voiced Detroit male MC, rapid and level over the clanking drums] Bottom of the ninth, one-run lead, the bullpen phone rings once Skipper never says my name, he points, and that's enough Forty thousand on their feet and every one of 'em want me hurt I walk in slow, I take my time, I kick a little dirt Ninety-nine on the radar, and it's movin' late and mean Got a slider fallin' off the table like a guillotine I don't smile, I don't talk, I don't look at who's at bat I just look at the catcher's glove, and I fill it, that is that Last year I struck out the side on nine pitches in a row Nine pitches, three batters, and the whole park had to go [Hook: flat-voiced Detroit MC, level and heavy] Bullpen gate swings open and they boo me to the wall Ninth inning, one-run lead, I came to end it all I ain't here to make friends, I ain't here to keep score I walk in from the bullpen and I shut the door [Verse 2: faster, the bass riff tightening] Runner on first is Ruiz, he's the fastest thing alive Takin' one step, two steps, three steps, now he's leadin' off by five At the plate is Hollister, forty homers and a grin He been sittin' on my fastball since the day that I came in Every camera in the building pointed right between my eyes Every grandma in the bleachers knows the heater's gonna rise It's my best against his best, and the winner gets the night Everybody knows the script, and everybody's got it right Hollister is diggin' in and wigglin' his back foot Ruiz is walkin' off the bag like he's goin' out to look [Hook] Bullpen gate swings open and they boo me to the wall Ninth inning, one-run lead, I came to end it all I ain't here to make friends, I ain't here to keep score I walk in from the bullpen and I shut the door [Bridge: meter shift into a heavy six-eight sway as he comes set] I come set, glove at my belt, and I stare at the plate Hollister wigglin' the bat, and the whole park waits Ruiz takes another step, he thinks I can't see him Every step a little greedy, and I let him, I let him [Verse 3: flat-voiced Detroit MC, snapped back to four, rapid] I don't throw a pitch at all, I spin and whip it over to first Ruiz dives back on his belly, and the tag comes down like a hearse Umpire punches out the air, and that's the ballgame, that's the night Forty thousand people standin' frozen in the stadium light Hollister still holdin' lumber like he's waitin' on a bus Never got a pitch to swing at, never got to make a fuss All that talk about my fastball, all that sittin' on the gas And I ended it without it, and I ended it fast Everybody watched the hammer, nobody watched the latch That's a shut door, Detroit, and I never threw a pitch [Hook] Bullpen gate swings open and they boo me to the wall Ninth inning, one-run lead, I came to end it all I ain't here to make friends, I ain't here to keep score I walk in from the bullpen and I shut the door [End]
