How to pick your perfect baseball walk-up song

It takes a baseball player roughly 20 seconds to walk from the on-deck circle to the batter’s box.

During that brief stroll, the batter’s ear catches and hears maybe five seconds of a song playing over the loudspeaker. Those five seconds of music of their choosing – the walk-up song – can be as important to ball players as any of their pregame superstitions, like wearing pant legs up or down, putting batting gloves on a certain way, or a scribbled message on a particularly taped wrist.

Why does music play as batters and pitchers take their positions?

Walk-up music started back in 1970 in Comiskey Park, home of the Chicago White Sox. According to a New York Times story, organist Nancy Faust was instructed by team management to think of music that would be suitable for the park. “Comic gimmicks are always welcome,” she was told.

The witty organist began playing the state songs of each batter as he walked up to the plate – creating a recognizable musical tag for the fans. Pitchers, beginning with Hall of Fame reliever Trevor Hoffman in the mid-1990s, began to have music played as they entered games from the bullpen.

The history behind walk-up music is well established, yet the science behind the choice of song remains rather mysterious. During his playing days, Preston Hudak, an assistant coach with the Rock Hill-based Piedmont Pride summer college baseball team, held fast to his walk-up song, J. Cole’s “Who Dat.” The reason? “Who Dat” sounded like his last name.

Could a walk-up song that reminded Hudak of his surname help him perform better? Dr. David Schary, a sports psychologist at Winthrop University, considered the subject late last week.

“There’s been a lot of research on music and athletic performance and it’s kind of mixed all over the place on how well music can actually help,” Schary said. “Essentially music can help raise somebody’s excitement getting ready for a game and it can also be used to relax them.”

Calculating the earned run averages and batting averages of players from the Piedmont Pride offers a starting point for considering whether introductory or walk-up music can make an impact on players’ performance.

It’s fun to ponder the exact psychological effect of music on performance, but without a conclusive study, the results are simply a playful inference.

“There are so many variables that go into whether you’re going to hit the baseball or not,” said Schary. “I think that a 10-second clip of a song isn’t going to have that much of an impact”

Four steps toward picking your own walk-up song

Walk-up songs have become ingrained in modern baseball. It’s important to select music that creates a unique, memorable, and energy-boosting walk to the plate or mound.

Answering four questions will guide you to your style of walk-up song. The perfect one would have elements of all four parts. But you may find yourself gravitating toward, or emphasizing, particular parts, which leads to a more personalized song choice.

Explore the Piedmont Pride’s walk-up song selections:

 

Step 1: Is the song catchy?

If you emphasize this first attribute, you end up with a “crowd-pleaser.”

The crowd-pleaser is a song fans will recognize, usually a current top-40 hit or well-known classic that immediately stirs a reaction.

MLB stars Yasiel Puig of the New York Mets and Ryan Howard of the Philadelphia Phillies use this kind of song that can project an image of trendiness and foster a connection with fans. Choosing a crowd-pleaser may require changing walk-up songs as popular hits fade in and out of fashion. Staying current is key.

“I try to make people laugh. Mine doesn’t match my personality at all,” said Piedmont Pride player Ryan Kahl. “I change mine each season, depending on what new fire comes out on the radio.”

Kahl’s use of the slang term “fire,” which in this instance refers to popular new music, demonstrates his commitment to being current and hip. A catcher from Florida, Kahl is using “Don’t Drop That Thun Thun” - a very catchy hip-hop song commonly used to get people dancing - as his Pride walk-up song this summer.

Step 2: Does the song get you fired up?

The second consideration is whether a walk-up song gets you pumped up for your plate or mound appearance. Some competitors prefer to be focused heading into the action, but others want to be fired up, their blood flowing and eyes widened.

The pulse-raising song could be a hard rock screamer or a bone-rattling club thumper. Piedmont Pride third baseman Zach Shank’s walk-up song fits neatly into this category. Shank’s criteria for picking Cool Amerika’s “Make Some Shake” were pretty simple.

“I just like a song that gets me going inside, that’ll give me confidence and a good energy going to the plate,” he said.

Step 3: Does the song have meaning to you?

Maybe you would prefer to be calm and focused ahead of your big moment at the mound or plate.

A personal memento song - one that takes you to a calm and positive place - might be the right choice.

The song, more specifically the lyrics, tells the audience something about your character or past. Multiple Piedmont Pride players play Christian music during their walk-up.

“I try to pick a song that is going to, one, help me remember that when I’m playing its not just about me, there’s something more important to life, and that’s Jesus,” said Pride shortstop Trey Logan. “And I like to select a song so that the crowd knows where I stand and knows what I believe.”

Step 4: Are you superstitious?

If you happen to notice that you play better hearing a specific song, do not change it.

The superstitious walk-up song follows a player through the years and teams and various levels of baseball, and is believed to directly impact performance. Professionals like the Dodgers’ Chase Utley and the Giants’ Grant Green have used the same walk-up tracks their entire careers.

Baseball is full of superstitions, and walk-up songs are no exception. A player in the midst of a hit streak wouldn’t change socks, batting gloves, under shirt, anything; why change the walk-up song? The opposite can be true during a hitting slump.

“I had a rap song, and I sucked, so I had to switch back to a country song,” said Pride first baseman Chandler Redmond, who has only used three different walk-up songs in the last six years.

Redmond is using Kenny Chesney’s “Summertime” as his walk-up song with the Pride. He’s batting .321 with a team-high 25 hits and 22 RBIs. Looks like he’s found his perfect walk-up song.

This story was originally published July 6, 2016 at 11:37 AM with the headline "How to pick your perfect baseball walk-up song."