Part 1 was the Hitters. Here’s the pitchers.
Note: I’m going solely on the research of others here; I’ve only been to one game so I cannot personally confirm the walk-up music of all these players. Here’s the team official list of each player’s 2014 walk-up music, and here’s Cheryl Nichols/DistrictSportsPage’s research on this year’s walk-up songs.
Relievers have historically had some memorable walk-up songs; Trevor Hoffman and Mariano Rivera both came to be known for their music and the songs became anthems for the players even before they emerged from the bullpens. Somehow I don’t think any of our current relievers are headed that way; our closer has a rather “unique” song (story below) and isn’t nearly as dominant as these two hall-of-fame bound guys.
Here we go. As with part 1, my non-scientific/tongue-in-cheek opinion of each guy’s song is listed.
Starters
- Stephen Strasburg – Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes. Great choice; this song was the unofficial anthem of a recent European Championships soccer tournament and its somewhat chilling to hear an entire crowd hum the intro notes. Lets hope this happens with Stras. Grade: A
- Gio Gonzalez: unknown? Nichols only has his batting music (Trophies by Young Money & Drake). Last year he was House Party (feat. Young Chris) by Meek Mill, which I’m ambivalent over. Grade: Inc
- Jordan Zimmermann – Hell On Wheels by Brantley Gilbert. Country, blech. Plus how am I inspired to cheer after hearing this song? Grade: C
- Taylor Jordan – Collide by Skillet. Good sound, kind of like a newer Linkin Park. But, not very obvious to the masses. Grade: C+
- Tanner Roark – Kickstart My Heart by Motley Crue. Like it; old school, not an obvious Crue selection either. Grade: A-
Relievers
- Rafael Soriano – El Rey de Monticulo —”The King of the Mound” by Ediseuri Concepcion Mejia (Story behind song). Nichols links to a WSJ article explaining this song, which has custom lyrics just for Soriano. Understandable why he uses it. Grade: B
- Tyler Clippard – Ready or Not by The Fugees. Eh. Sorry, he’ll never beat “Peaches” by the Presidents of the United States of America. Never should have gone away from it. Grade: D
- Drew Storen – When the Lights Go Out by The Black Keys. This as opposed to what the official team site believes he’s playing for himself (“Bad Company” by Five Finger Death Punch). I’m not as big of a fan of the Black Keys song, but I like the Bad Company remake by FFDP. Grade: C
- Craig Stammen – Eye of the Tiger by Survivor. Classic sports anthem, how can you beat it? Grade: A
- Aaron Barrett – This Is What It Feels Like (W&w Radio Edit) by Armin van Buuren Feat. Trevor Guthrie. Wow, never thought I’d see a major leaguer going deep into techno/trance and pulling AVB out. Excellent. Grade: A
- Jerry Blevins – Sympathy for the Devil by The Rolling Stones. Another great, classic song, appealing to the older crowd. Grade: A-
- Ross Detwiler – Wherever I May Roam by Metallica. My kind of music; he had to stay away from songs from the same artist made more popular by other guys. This is kind of a unique Metallica offering, a deeper cut but still has recognition. Grade: B+
- Blake Treinen – unknown; he hasn’t returned home yet. Can’t wait to see this guy throw .. and hear what song he’s listening to. Grade: Inc
I seem to be a bigger fan of the pitcher’s walk-up music than our hitters. Biased? Probably.
I’m inspired by the AVB choice from Barrett. If I was doing a song right now i’d probably pull from the same genre. Check out:
- “Ready, Steady, Go“ from Paul Oakenfold; try not to be thrown off by the incredibly weird video; this song was used in one of the Bourne movies (played during a car chanse scene) and the beginning of the song would be perfect for a walk-out.
- “Where’s your Head At“ from Basement Jaxx: you may have heard this before; it did get some play domestically. Basement Jaxx is a UK-based band that almost never comes to the states: my brother and I once flew to London for a weekend to see them play at Wembley arena. Ah, the days of being single 🙂
- “Superstylin“ from Groove Armada; a band you’ve probably never heard of but they rock. Saw them at 9:30 club a decade ago and I don’t think they’ve been back to the states since. You’ll recognize another of their hits, “I See You Baby,” a remix done by Fat Boy Slim that was sampled by the inveterate show MTV Cribs for years and years. I could pull this song off too.
- Lastly, perhaps i’d figure out something to play from DC-based Thievery Corporation to get the home-town angle, but their stuff is mostly so down-tempo that it’d be hard to find a sample that made sense for walk-up music. Click here for an example; “Lebanese Blonde“ from their 2000 album The Mirror Conspiracy.
Ok, that was a serious tangent from baseball. 🙂 Maybe i’m trying not to think about some looming storm clouds for the team right now. You know, a 5.00 ERA for our starters, a ton of injuries, the most errors in the league, getting our hats handed to us by Atlanta so far … and the Cards and their rotation coming into town for a potential 4-game beat-down unless our guys can figure out how to keep runners off-base. Last night’s win over Jose Fernandez and his sick stuff was a great help though; if they can get to Fernandez for 3 runs, they should be able to hang with St. Louis’ hurlers. Lets see.