What I Learned From Studying Every MLB Player's Walk-Up Song
To so many kids around the world, Major League Baseball players are superheroes. And what do baseball players and actual superheroes have in common? Well, they're just about the only people on Earth who get to have their own theme song. (So to speak.) So, when a Little League ballplayer goes up to bat, they imagine they’re in a stadium—and the announcer’s voice rings out, as they say their name. The crowd goes wild. And, of course, the player's walk-up music pumps through the stadium's speakers.
Now, you'd think that the few kiddos who make it to the big leagues—and have the chance to blast their own pump-up tunes for massive crowds—would make the most of the opportunity.
But so many of them fuck it up.
How do I know, aside from razzing my hometown Phillies? Well, MLB actually lists each player’s walk-up song on its website. It’s public information, just like court documents. We’re all free to look around the league and judge Major League Baseball players on their music taste—or lack thereof.
So, that’s exactly what I plan to do.
I’ve created a few (mostly) arbitrary guidelines and subcategories to group the players’ choices. For example: Is any given song meant solely to hype fans up, using fit-for-a-stadium songs? A fun reference to the player’s name? Or, does an athlete use a track that mentions the city they play in? Are they employing the talents of a problematic artist? Does the musical choice kind of make you just say, “Huh.” Let's get into it.
Jock Jams
Since the core directive of a walk-up song is to enhance the crowd's experience—and amp up the player stepping up to the plate—I’d say a good chunk of ballplayers use songs that could fit into the category of... general stadium excitement? Meaning: a lot of classic rock, which, eventually, won’t have the same effect on Gen Z and beyond. But for right now, guys can still get the desired outcome from “Kickstart My Heart” and “Seven Nation Army.” Alice In Chains’ “Rooster,” used by Orioles pitcher Bruce Zimmerman, is a surefire way to create an intimidating scene. For pitchers taking the mound, that’s key.
Yankees catcher Jose Trevino clearly knows his history, deploying “Hip Hop Hooray” at Yankee Stadium. A more modern choice comes from Orioles pitcher Bryan Baker, who uses Avicii’s “Levels,” bridging the gap between older baseball fans who might still keep score with a pencil—and the younger ones drinking White Claw.
Songs like these are an easy—and safe—choice. Yeah, AC/DC will get everyone jazzed up. There’s no fuss with Rush's “Working Man.” No controversy with “I Gotta Feeling.” It’s fine. But it doesn’t give any indication about who these men are, and what they're like off the field. Did the years of rigorous youth and collegiate baseball sand down the edges and kill the dream of at-bat theme songs? Are baseball players just fundamentally more boring than other athletes?
Maybe. But there’s plenty of evidence to the contrary.
Choices that Make You Say, “Huh.”
Notice that I put a period—and not a question mark. This isn’t: “Huh? What’s that song?” This is: “Huh. Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson is into Glass Animals. Wonder if he reads Pitchfork, too,” or “Huh. Giants infielder Wilmer Flores must be a big Friends fan, since he walks out to the show's theme song,” or “Huh. Nick Nelson plays a Refused song. Wonder what other punk music he’s into!”
It shouldn’t be as difficult as it is to imagine sports figures as real people with real interests—and maybe even strange musical tastes. So, when the Mets' Drew Smith uses “Electric Feel,” remember that he’s just a guy who was born in the early '90s and loved that song. Maybe he has some thoughts on “Congratulations.” Maybe he doesn’t! But for the brief time he’s walking onto the field, the millennials in the crowd are jamming.
Speaking of jammin’...
Um, Is Rebelution Baseball's Most Famous Band?
As I looked over the music database, I saw a lot of what I’ll call... White Dude Reggae bands. When Chad Wallach played for the Angels, he used “Sirens,” by Sublime WITH ROME feat. The Dirty Heads. Not even just regular Sublime, a band with genuine hits. Wallach chose late-stage, post-Brad Sublime! It’s scandalous. The most repeated band in this genre is Rebelution, which is used four times. I know from attending Phillies games that Rhys Hoskins used Relelution as his on-deck music. Since he's out for the season, we'll sadly never know where his musical taste stands now.
Local Appeal
Atlanta is a great place to start here. There’s so much good music in Atlanta. Maybe when Nashville gets a team, the league's love of bro country will make more sense. But for now, let’s focus on Atlanta. When he played for the Braves shortstop Dansby Swanson had three walk-up songs, all of which were local artists: OutKast’s “southernplayalisticadillacmuzik,” Lil Baby's “Solid,” and Killer Mike's “Kryptonite.” Braves pitcher Collin McHugh also turns to OutKast for his entrances, with “So Fresh, So Clean.”
Hip-hop is pretty dominant in this category. Lil Uzi Vert in Philly. Jay-Z and Fat Joe in Yankee Stadium. Plus, you have to hand it to Andrew Chafin of the Detroit Tigers for reaching for the low-hanging—yet barely touched!—fruit, going for KISS’s “Detroit Rock City.”
Missed Opportunities!
You’re telling me there’s only one player on the Blue Jays who plays a Drake song? The dude mentions Toronto all the time! And you're saying that, with all of the verses about Los Angeles—and even one lyric explicitly mentioning “Dodger Blue”—the entirety of Los Angeles’s professional baseball population ignored the Red Hot Chili Peppers?
Oh, there's more. Mets players: Billy Joel. (Not even the “King of Queens” theme song?) Houston players: Beyoncé! Seattle: Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Hendrix. Even Macklemore would be a little bit acceptable here. Ben Gibbard has been vocal about his long commitment to suffering with the Mariners. Throw him a bone! I already went over the stoner-adjacent reggae fixation, so why can’t some players in San Francisco use Grateful Dead songs?
Denver players, you’re out of luck. The city doesn’t exactly have a rich musical tradition. The best you’re looking at is *checks notes* The Lumineers, The Fray, 3OH!3, Flobots and Pretty Lights. But a player could at least use “We Will Rock You” and kill two birds with one stone, serving both a traditional stadium rock anthem and a jam that plays off the team's name. It's pretty genius, I think.
Speaking of geniuses…
Problematic Faves
Look. I’ll be real with you. As I went through the MLB database, I saw a lot of Ye. Yes, bands like Mötley Crüe were well-known for bad behavior. Aerosmith, too. But those bands don’t exist in the present as much as Ye. I counted 13 uses of Ye tracks, 11 songs in all. (I also learned that “Praise God” and “Follow God” are different songs.)
Maybe these players are just not aware of the implications of using a Ye song as their as representative piece of music! Maybe they just don’t care. Meanwhile, some athletes even blur the line of acceptable and unacceptable, like Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm, who uses “Famous,” but specifically uses the Sister Nancy “Bam Bam” sample, so it’s a play off of his name. For Houston Astros pitcher Hunter Brown, who uses Ted Nugent in this day and age, I don’t really have an explanation for you. The “Stranglehold” riff does rock. But at what cost?
Bad Bunny Is Actually the Most Famous Musician In the World
There was no more-repeated artist on this than Bad Bunny. It makes sense, since there are plenty of MLB players from Puerto Rico, but this crew isn't limited to just players from the island vibing on some Bad Bunny. I counted 17 players who employed Bad Bunny's services. Pitbull might be Mr. Worldwide, but Bad Bunny’s appeal makes it an easy choice for just about any ballpark in America. My personal favorite MLB player/Bad Bunny stan is Yankees catcher Kyle Higashioka, who switches between Bad Bunny's “Hoy Cobre” and Slayer’s “Dissident Aggressor.”
Self-Promotion
As I said up top, there are very few moments in team sports that allow for personal glory. The nature of baseball creates situations where players are the single focal point. Other sports have fleeting moments—foul shots, penalty kicks—but a baseball game is mostly a series of individual moments. So, players understandably want to hype themselves up by using a song that plays off of their own name or nickname.
A few guys use songs that almost use their name, like Phillies pitcher Ranger Suarez, who struts out to Kid Cudi's “Mr. Rager,” or Reds first baseman Joey Votto, who uses “Jolene.” A lucky few have songs that nail their monikers exactly, like San Diego’s Yu Darvish, who—take a guess—chose “Crank That (Soulja Boy)." (YUUUUUUUUUUU!) Rangers pitcher John King, of course, uses Avenged Sevenfold's, “Hail to the King,” and St. Louis Cardinal Ryan Helsley walks out to “Hell’s Bells.”
The best ones, though, are the songs that take you a second to figure out the connection, or have that wink-wink, if-you-know-you-know quality. I’m talking about Braves third baseman Austin Riley using the Stone Cold Steve Austin theme song, and former Reds outfielder Nick Plummer, who used the Mario Bros. theme song. (Get it? Plummer? Plumber?)
One Last Thought...
I’ve thought a lot about what I would use for my own walk-up song. If I was called up by my Philadelphia Phillies, the easy choice is Meek Mill’s “Dreams and Nightmares” and Elton John’s “Philadelphia Freedom.” Could I try to find something that fits my name? I can’t think of anything good for Brendan or Menapace. Maybe “It’s Raining Men.” That'd be fun.
It’s honestly a harder decision than you might think, now that I’m faced with it. Enough to drive you crazy. It’s like being the one with the aux cord. Your choice dictates the vibe! Really, exposing the art that resonates with you the most—the stuff that makes you feel so strongly that you use it in your most pressure-filled moment—that’s true vulnerability. So don’t screw up.
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