Cubs Live
By Christian Otteman It’s no secret that playing at home gives a team a distinct advantage over the visiting club. Fan support, familiarity, and batting second are all small contributors to the home-field advantage, but there’s another piece to the puzzle that makes playing at home all the more fun: the walk-up song. Ranging from classic rock to stadium country to rap of schools both old and new, walk-up songs allow the home team to customize their at-bats so that they might add a little personality to every trip to the plate. With hundreds of selections around the league to look at, let’s take a look at some of the elements that make a walk-up (or warm-up—pitchers get some love here too) song perfect. First off, a walk-up song should give the player some sort of advantage over their opponent. On one hand, the advantage can be obtained by means of intimidation tactics. Especially in the case of many of the game’s greatest closers, some of the best warm-up songs are remembered for their ability to instill fear in the hearts of all that hear it. Without question, the best example of this is Mariano Rivera’s use of “Enter Sandman” by Metallica. If you played in either variation of Yankee Stadium in the 2000s, there was no surer sign of your team’s demise than the first few bars of the Metallica classic. Kenley Jansen’s entry to California Love is probably the closest thing to a modern-day equivalent, but you also have to love Wade Davis’ use of Dr. Dre’s “Ackrite.” Calm and collected yet confident, it’s the perfect approach for a closer with the caliber of the machine that is Davis. A song can also create an advantage by finding a way to involve the fans in the action. The vast majority of songs that fit into this category involve some sort of festive clapping from the grandstands, like in Anthony Rizzo’s first trip to the plate each game in which he uses Martin Solveig’s “Intoxicated.” Invigorating the fans is an important part of swaying the at-bat to your advantage, so if a song choice helps the home crowd make some noise, it makes rattling the pitcher all the more simple. Second, the perfect walk-up song holds some sort of meaning to the player. This one’s a little tricky, as since the players get to choose their music, each song is probably important in some way to that player—even if it’s something as simple as that song hyping them up. However, bonus points for this category can be awarded for songs that go above and beyond personal preference. The simplest example of this is the name game—Kris Bryant’s choice of “Warm It Up” by Kris Kross is a great example, as is the now-infamous “Bennie and the Jets” rendition by Ben Zobrist’s wife Julianna that is used at every single one of his plate appearances. It goes deeper for some players, though. Anthony Rizzo’s third trip to the plate features a banger from the late Old Taylor Swift in the form of the chart-topping pop hit “Bad Blood.” Perhaps Rizzo is just a big T-Swift fan, but as a survivor of Hodgkin’s Lymphoma—a cancer beginning in the body’s white blood cells—it may also serve as a reminder to the odds Rizzo has had to overcome to get where he is today. Last but certainly not least, the walk-up song has to fit the player. The very best walk-up songs are the ones that embody a player completely, from their approach at the plate to their demeanor on and off the field. Think Kyle Schwarber’s use of “Thuggish Ruggish Bone,” or John Lackey’s “Friends in Low Places.” Outside of the Cubs, who could possibly forget Josh Reddick’s hysterical bout with “Careless Whisper” a couple seasons back? There’s just something about these selections that fit the player to a T. It’s hard to put in words, but that’s what’s so perfect about these song selections—they just work, man. So which walk-up song holds the honor of being the “best?” As is the case with all kinds of music, it all comes down to personal preference, but if you ask me, there is no walkup song more perfect than Starlin Castro’s choice during his time with the 2015 Cubs. Omega’s “Ando En La Versace” encapsulates everything that a perfect walk-up song should be. For starters, its contagious beat infects the entire stadium within seconds, the side effects of which can be seen below: The song became such a hit with Cubs fans during Castro’s final year with the club that the song became synonymous with Castro himself. Not only did Anthony Rizzo begin his season at Wrigley in 2016 by playing the song as a musical tribute to his former teammate in his first home at-bat, but Castro was also welcomed back to Wrigley with a standing ovation accompanied by the song in his first at-bat. Indisputably Starlin, the song still holds a place in this Cubs fan’s heart (and music library) due to its unparalleled nostalgic value, firmly cementing its place at the top of the pack in the timeless art that is the walk-up song.
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Kyle MalzhanFounder who is an aspiring journalist who covers the Chicago Cubs daily. Archives
April 2020
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