I went to the game on Monday – and I am grateful I went to the one win of the series if you’re wondering – and for some reason a few of the players walk-up songs stood out to me. Just some surprising picks that threw me off briefly. I instantly wanted to write this post.
My first instinct was to rank them, but it quickly became clear there were a few songs where I just felt so not the audience for that song that I actually did not know if it was good or bad. I know that sounds weird, but you’ll understand
when I get to those songs. Actually, I didn’t know how I was going to rank them, so I just made up some categories, and I figured I would then rank them, but it’s probably more fun to grade them by categories than an official ranking.
I got tickets to the wrong show
These are songs that I can’t really judge, because I am not the audience for these songs. I have two very different reasons for why I feel like I’m not the audience. Three songs share the same reason, two for another reason. Three players picked religious songs, which I don’t feel like really fits as a walk-up song personally, but I also know that if that’s your #1 priority in life, I understand why you pick it. And that tends to give you an extreme confidence in yourself and if a song reminds you of that, well that is a good walk-up song for you. Very much not my thing, but you could see why I would find it difficult to rank it.
Nathan Church – Graves into Garden (Live) by Elevation Worship featuring Brandon Lake
JJ Wetherholt – Bring Heaven Down by Hulvey
Cooper Hjerpe – YAHWEH by Forrest Frank
Church’s song has over 100 million views, which means a lot of you have probably heard it. I have not. This will not be the first time I see a song with a ridiculous amount of views that I’ve never heard before. Elevation Worship probably sounds exactly how you imagine a song by a band called Elevation Worship would sound, so props on the appropriate name. Hulvey is a Christian rapper, so that is a Christian rap song. Sounds like a normal rap song with Christian-themed lyrics. Hjerpe’s pick is a raggae Christian song. Raggae is way too chill for me to play running out to the mound.
The other song that is in this category is language-related. Leonardo Bernal’s song is, as far as I can tell, a Spanish-language rap song. I am a big rap fan, but I am a lyric-focused rap fan so when I can’t understand the lyrics, kind of makes it hard to judge. Me being lyric-focused will be extremely relevant with a few songs, we’ll call that foreshadowing. But this song has an extremely annoying chorus/hook and it’s a very fast-paced song. But yeah some of judging these songs is the relevance to the situation but I don’t know what the hell they’re talking about.
Leonardo Bernal – Cuando Prendo by Rochy RD and Donaty
Joshua Baez – Pa’ Que Retozenby Tego Calderon
George Soriano – Mi Vida Es Mia by Secreto El Famoso Biberon
The Baez song has 523 million views on Youtube so clearly this is an extremely popular song among Spanish speakers.
Bad Song, Does Work
Another issue with why I can’t really rank songs – some of them are still good walk-up songs! There are different reasons I find them to be good walk-up songs, but remember there’s only a 20-30 second part of the song being played and those 30 seconds might actually work really well in the context of a work-up song.
Alec Burleson – Party like a Rockstar by Shop Boyz
This just so perfectly fits with the public perception of Alec Burleson. In my opinion. Not every player could have this as their walk-up song. Most couldn’t in fact. Burly can pull it off. Think “Chicken Fried” and Matt Holliday, which not sure I want to be planting my flag on that being a bad song, but certainly it fits Matt Holliday.
Gordon Graceffo – Square Dance by Eminem
Full disclosure: I have to guess which parts of the song pitchers specifically are picking to be their entrance song. With hitters, I can go to a previous game and (very vaguely) hear the song, but in most cases, I remember which part is played. That is not true of pitchers. I am assuming Graceffo picks the part of this song that says “It feels so good to be back” which is a very great reliever entrance message as far as I’m concerned. Basically, I assume he picked the part of the song that is ad-libbed before the actual song kicks in. And this might be controversial because The Eminem Show is considered a classic, but I do like that album, this is the worst song on it.
The Kyle Gibson
This is an average walk-up song. Nothing really special about it. It gets the job done, but is not particularly memorable.
Justin Bruhl – Kickstar my Heart by Motley Crue
Way, way, way too overused. I think the Cardinals had this song on rotation between innings before a player ever used it, or maybe there has always been a player who has used it, but while it technically is a good walk-up song, it’s kind of turned into background noise for me. This pick is basically getting knocked for being unoriginal.
Quinn Mathews – Flashing Lights by Kanye West
I think this is a cool sounding song, but it doesn’t really pump you up, it’s just meant to sound cool. I’m also knocking it points for the subject matter being an ex-girlfriend, which means the “flashing lights” is really the only part you could apply to Mathews entering a game. But I mean that works for Mark McGwire, not really Mathews at this stage of his career. I think you just have to be more famous.
Kind of fits the messenger
I kind of talked myself into these two. I have a certain preference for a good walk-up song. If I were entering a game, I would want the song to get me excited, get me pumped up. That’s not the only way I’m grading these songs of course. With these two songs, I don’t really think the tone of the song matches a good walk-up song, but the message of the song does kind of fit with who is batting.
Pedro Pages – Change Me by BigXthaPlug
I don’t know why the song is called Change Me, because the message is literally the exact opposite. I’m not gonna change, screw the haters. Some people might take that the wrong way from Pedro Pages, I find it hilarious. Just the concept of a player the vast majority of fans complaining about saying “Yeah I’m not changing” I mean sorry it just kind of works. Like yeah Pedro Pages actually does have haters. Probably more than the guy who made this song in fact. This however would not rank super high on my personal list, because he picks the rapping part and the chorus is the better part of the song.
Victor Scott – Smooth Operator by Sade
Yeah I’m just looking for a completely different vibe with walk-up songs than this. I’m pretty sure Scott chooses the chorus of this song, basically positioning himself as a smooth operator. Although points knocked because the things that make him a smooth operator are… not his skills in the batter’s box when this song is actually being played. If this was about his defense, great pick. He has a second walk-up song, but it’s Sexy Redd. I’m guessing it’s because she’s from St. Louis, but I take no pride in that.
Entirely Too Biased
I can’t properly judge these songs as walk-up songs, because I like the song too much. Like these don’t really work message wise, but I don’t care because I like the song. But that’s kind of going against my whole process!
Brycen Mautz – Money Trees by Kendrick Lamar feat. Jay Rock
Technically, the message of this song kind of fits, though not really in a game context and probably not a message fans want to hear from a player. Basically, the message is dreaming of making money. Where Mautz currently is at his career… that fits pretty well. Although in the context of the album, it’s specifically meant to be seen from the point of view of a younger, dumber Kendrick…. But I really like this song so I am happy to hear it when he comes into a game.
Riley O’Brien – Spicy by Nas feat Fivio Foreign & A$AP Ferg
Actually this was one of the songs that motivated me to write this post. I couldn’t believe there was a Cardinals player picking a Nas song as their entrance song. He is my greatest rapper ever, so I again was just excited to hear a Nas verse when a Cardinal player came out, I can’t look at it critically.
Bad Song, Bad for Walk-Up
I didn’t like these songs. I also don’t think they work very well as a walk-up song. They don’t feature the qualities I’m looking for in a walk-up song.
Bryan Torres – I Want It That Way by Backstreet Boys
I don’t know if this is meant to be ironic, and I know fans sing along so I get how this kind of works, but this is very much not a vibe I’m seeking for a walk-up song. His other song is not in English so you can probably guess where that one would go.
Jordan Walker – Feed the Streets 2 (Intro) by Roddy Richh
To be honest, this could fit in the first category, but I actually listen to rap and I really hate the sound of this song a lot! It simultaneously is memorable and forgettable at the same time. It does not fade into the background, when this plays whenever Walker comes to the plate, it feels like the only thing I hear, but I will forget what this song sounds like tomorrow. I forgot which part of the song actually plays when he comes to the plate – hence the forgettability of it – I just know I never enjoy when he walks to the plate.
Nolan Gorman – No Hands – Wacka Flocka Flame feat. Roscoe Dash and Wale
Yeah this just could not fit Nolan Gorman less. As a defender of Gorman, at least in public, he has the personality of Sadness from Inside Out. I just can’t imagine him dancing to this song. This is a club song with lyrics you would expect from a club song, and that is not at all analogous to baseball or performance.
Good song, not a good walk-up song
This one is a matter of opinion – I guess they all are – but it is possible to pick a good song and feel like it doesn’t really mesh with a walk-up or entrance song. I suspect these are “Extremely Biased” for these players though where they really just can’t properly judge it as a walk-up song, they just love the song, and thus it works wonderfully them.
Masyn Winn – Dirty Diana by Michael Jackson
I’m fairly certain Winn chose the chorus part of the song, but even so this song is about groupies. I don’t know feels like weird timing even though rejecting groupies does make a certain amount of sense for a recently engaged baseball player. But you’re about to go to bat, I don’t want you worried about groupies right now Masyn!
Jose Fermin – Bby Wow by Karol G
No idea what this artist is saying in the song, but I can groove to it. This is a little too chill and “dance charts” to be a vibe I am personally looking for when walking to the plate though. Like you don’t want to feel the urge to dance when you walk to the plate, you want to lock in and focus.
Elite Picks
Michael McGreevy – Everlong by Foo Fighters
I’m not actually a big Foo Fighters guy, and I like this song well enough, but the intro to this is kind of fantastic. I’m assuming that’s the part of the song he runs out too. If the lyrics don’t fit that well, you better have an instrumental that gets your heart rate up. I think this one does.
Matthew Liberatore – Legend by The Score
The lyrics could not be more generic and general, but that’s not actually a bad thing in this particular instance. Because you see most artists do not make songs about running out to a mound. This song’s message is just “Here we go. Let’s go be legends.” Great attitude to have before a start. Really wish it translated even in a little to his performance, but that’s not what I’m judging.
Kyle Leahy – On Top by Flume feat. T.Shirt
Like the previous song, the song is not really anything special, however the content of the song is the exact attitude I want my starting pitcher to have. The opening lyrics say “All I want in this life is a chance to do my thing” and then the chorus says “I want the top” and “I need the top.” I mean this works really well for a guy trying to become a starting pitcher.
Thomas Saggese – Sweet Dreams by Eurythmics
First off, great song. I am actually surprised I can’t remember a player using this before, because it kind of just makes you want to live out your dream. It works especially well given Saggese’s current situation or any unproven player.
Ryne Stanek – Still DRE by Dr. Dre feat. Snoop Dogg
Sorry, this beat just goes so hard. Not to mention, there is a certain parallel one could draw between Ryan Stanek and Dr. Dre when he made this song. In the song, he is addressing people who think he’s lost it and claiming he’s still the same. Dr. Dre was, uh, a little bit more convincing than Stanek has been.
Ivan Herrera – Shook Ones Pt. IIby Mobb Deep
This song is so menacing. It is a message to pitchers: you’re all fakes, I will destroy you. Herrera has a second listed walk-up song – this is the only one I heard on Monday – and the other song is not in English, so I picked this song for him.
And that’s my list. The cost for this post is screwing up my Youtube algorithm so that’ll be fun.
