You wouldn’t think that Lisa Loeb would have much in common with the 2024 Blue Jays, but one pitcher has forged a connection with the 1990s songstress.
Loeb is best known for her massive 1994 hit Stay (I Missed You), which reached No. 1 on Canada’s Top Singles and the Billboard Hot 100 after its release. The record went gold, selling more than 500,000 copies.
But, if you’ve been at the Rogers Centre this season, you might have noticed the song is making a comeback 30 years later all thanks to one pitcher: Yusei Kikuchi.
Loeb’s hit begins with her singing the words “You say …” before describing things that her partner has said to her.
Kikuchi’s first name, of course, is pronounced “YOU-say” — remarkably close to Loeb’s opening line.
In an interview with CityNews last month, the Jays starter was asked about his strikeout song.
“Do you remember the first time you heard it and are people singing it to you all the time?” Lindsay Dunn asked the Japanese pitcher.
“I love it. It’s my favourite moment,” Kikuchi responded.
Loeb saw the interview and also loved it, posting it to X on May 31 with the caption: “So cool! They play my song “Stay (I Missed You) every time Blue Jays pitcher Yusei Kikuchi strikes someone out!”
Funnily enough, it actually took the 56-year-old American singer some time to realize the reason why Rogers Centre staff pump out her song.
Half an hour after her original post, she reshared it, admitting her brainfart.
“Omg. I just got it. ‘Yusei’ is pronounced like the first two words of my song. Doh.”
Social media users were quick to joke about the gaffe, replying with the next lyrics from her song after the opener: “Yusei, I only hear what I want to.”
Despite his 2-5 record, Kikuchi has been pitching well this season. He has a 3.66 ERA over 66.1 innings pitched and 65 strikeouts.
Jays fans will hope to be hearing Loeb’s hit on Thursday afternoon, when Kikuchi is slated to make his next start against the Baltimore Orioles. Loeb, as it happens, was born in Bethesda, Maryland.