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Last week, Kenosha Kingfish catcher Brian Vance woo’d millions across the nation when video of him dancing to Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” during a delay in a game at Kokomo went viral.
Since it was posted last Friday, the clip has over 6 million views. A number of well-known content aggregator accounts have reposted it across multiple social media platforms.
The video was no fluke, though. Vance has always been a dancer dating back to elementary school when he was in theatre, which is where he learned the choreography to “Single Ladies.”
The moment the video was shot, Vance had a feeling it would be popular.
“I looked up in the middle of me dancing, and I saw that they were filming, and I walked back in the dugout, and I told my buddies on the team ‘I think this one’s going to go viral,’” Vance said.
The viral video is merely a reflection of the backstop’s personality and his views on baseball.
“It’s definitely a way to have fun with the game,” Vance said. “That’s just kind of the person I am; I like keeping it loose, having fun, not taking myself too seriously.”
The video has put Vance in a few tricky situations in the past week. In a recent game at Rockford, a Rivets’ starting pitcher’s mother asked Vance for an autograph and a picture. He also said DJs at other stadiums have played other Beyonce songs as he walked up to the plate. Many opponents have even chirped at him about it whenever he is playing in the field as well.
Vance said the attention he has received as a result of the video – Milwaukee’s CBS affiliate ran a story on its nightly newscast on Thursday – is not distracting to him.
“When the time is there and you’re able to mess around, I’ll mess around. And when it’s time to lock it in, I’ll lock it in a little bit,” Vance said.
But with great power comes great responsibility, and the pressure is on now for Vance.
“I gained like 600, 700 followers on Twitter from people I don’t even know. Now I’ve got to keep my Tweet game strong,” Vance joked.
Vance also said there could be a highly-anticipated collaboration in the future with Oregon softball player Haley Cruse, who also had a dancing video go viral in recent months.
The Kingfish marketing team has utilized Vance’s rise to fame, introducing a new between-innings promotion called “Vancy dancy dance off” where Vance competes in a dancing competition with a fan from the audience on days he is not in the lineup. To this point, Vance is undefeated in dance offs.