Late at night after a road game last August, Max Scherzer made a special request at the front desk of the Ritz-Carlton in Denver.
“Can you please unlock the piano?”
Chris Bassitt, then a teammate of Scherzer’s with the Toronto Blue Jays, sat and listened as his fellow right-hander’s fingers danced over the keys.
Scherzer’s playlist included versions of Dr. Dre and Eminem anthems he learned by watching “Guitar Hero”-style piano treatments of their songs on YouTube. He even invited Bassitt to make requests.
And this, believe it or not, is how a future Hall of Fame pitcher salvaged his career.
Playing piano not only resolved the lingering right-thumb issues that haunted Scherzer for two years but also enabled him to pitch more like his old self in the 2025 postseason and start Game 7 of the World Series.
“He became Chopin,” Blue Jays pitching coach Pete Walker said, “and the rest is history.”