The songs of summer
If you could pick a song to herald your arrival at work, what would it be? A hard-driving, heavy-metal anthem? A swingy Sinatra tune? Sadly, blasting music when entering the office is wildly inappropriate for most of us, but for Major League Baseball players, it鈥檚 part of the job.聽
Walk-up music 鈥� the tunes played over stadium sound systems to announce batters and pitchers entering a game 鈥� has become a baseball tradition in recent years, so much so that the song a player chooses can become a defining characteristic of his image. Retired New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera jogged to the mound to Metallica鈥檚 鈥淓nter Sandman.鈥� In Boston, Red Sox outfielder Shane Victorino takes his at-bats to Bob Marley鈥檚 鈥淭hree Little Birds鈥� while the Fenway crowd sings along.聽
Other sports are starting to catch on. First-round picks at this year鈥檚 National Football League draft were allowed to choose entrance music for the first time. When quarterback Johnny Manziel was drafted by the Cleveland Browns, he walked out to 鈥淒raft Day,鈥� a song by Drake that features lyrics about ... Johnny Manziel.聽
What makes a great walk-up song? The best ones are 鈥渄istinctive, more than just something that sounds good or pumps you up,鈥� says Steve Reese, who runs , a database that tracks the walk-up music used by every player in the majors. 鈥淧ersonally, I鈥檇 want everyone in the ballpark to know I was coming up, whether they were in their seats or in line for a hot dog.鈥澛�
It seems simple enough at first, but choosing a tune that can convey one鈥檚 very essence in 10 seconds or so can be tricky. As a result, the songs are dominated by male artists from rock, hip-hop, and country. Drake is the most popular walk-up song artist, according to mlbplatemusic.com.聽
There are a few delightful exceptions. Manny Ramirez, now retired, took to the plate to the brooding strains of Mozart鈥檚 Requiem. Washington Nationals infielder Zach Walters charmed the nation鈥檚 6-year-olds when he began rotating through songs from the Disney film 鈥淔rozen.鈥澛�
A growing number of players are moving beyond using their choices as mere entrance music. After an announcer joked that Colorado Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki鈥檚 batting hot streak was due to his stealing pitchers鈥� signs, Tulowitzki changed his music to the 1990s pop hit 鈥淭he Sign,鈥� by Ace of Base. Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp used Michael Jackson鈥檚 鈥淏lack or White鈥� as a rebuke to the racist remarks made by Clippers owner Donald Sterling in April.聽
These are all good things to keep in mind when choosing your own walk-up music 鈥� even if you just sing it in your head.
