(Originally posted on The Social Clymer)
I’ve been watching so much baseball this year, especially my beloved Dodgers. It seems every night, there’s a conversation happening online about the players’ walk-up music. This year, the Dodgers have really out done themselves with their music choices:
1. The most talked about walk-up has been Matt Kemp’s use of “All Night Long” by Lionel Richie. Lately, he’s been throwing some “Latch” in there too.
Matt Kemp is using "All Night Long" as his walk-up song. The A's Josh Reddick uses "Careless Whisper." It's like 1984 all over again.
— Militant Angeleno (@militantangleno) July 31, 2014
2. Adrian Gonzalez has stuck with his music through the year. “El Mariachi Loco” has been a welcome sound to Dodger fans with runners in scoring position all year!
http://instagram.com/p/nRwizsCusN/
3. Everybody’s favorite new addition to the team, Justin Turner, hits everyone with “Turn Down for What.”
I get hyped when Justin Turner's walk up song comes on. TURN DOWN FOR WHAT BZZZZZZ BZZZZZZZZ BZZZZZZ
— Robert (@RButter24) September 12, 2014
Honorable mentions are Clayton Kershaw’s “Cat Daddy,” “Shake It Off” by Taylor Swift for A.J. Ellis and Drew Butera rick rolling everyone with “Never Gonna Give You Up.”
What makes the perfect walk-up song?
There’s really a lot to think about when considering what your walk-up song might be. I’ve put together a few simple rules:
- Must have a catchy opening hook. The song should be either instantly recognizable (think “Back in Black”) or just grab you from the first few beats.
- Must to be related to winning, sport or somehow magnifying yourself. If a song just sounds nice and is about having tea with your grandma (ain’t no party like my nana’s tea party. hey. ho.), then it’s not a good walk-up song.
- Must be BIG! It can’t be some little song. This needs to fill Chavez Ravine and grab 50,000 fans by the shorts!
- Must inspire you! I have no idea if these guys can hear these songs on the field or not, but I’d like to think they can get them a little jacked up for their at bat. So, the song has to get you fired up!
What would my walk-up song be?
On my commute home from work, I listened to my favorite songs list trying to find candidates for my walk-up song. I think I found some good ones. Here were some of the ones I came up with.
I’m sure I’ll be adding more as I continue to think about this. Let me know in the comments or on Twitter what you think your walk-up song might be!