GABA Q&A: What would your walk-up song be as a baseball player?

After talking about movies last week, we're staying on the entertainment side of things again this week. If you were a baseball player and had to pick a walk-up song today, what would it be and why? (Bonus Question: What's the best walk-up song a Gamecock baseball player has ever had?)

Jorge

I used to buy MLB the Show every year and I'd create myself and do the career mode thingy. You actually can import a song for your walk-up music. I believe my song then was Uncle Tupelo's "We've Been Had" but in retrospect it's not quite punchy enough out of the gates. You've got about 7 seconds of walk-up time so you need to find something that'll get fans juiced in short order. I'd consider the chorus of Ryan Adams' "To Be Young", although the lyrics "Oh, one day when you're looking back / you were young and man you were sad" are probably a little heavy for the occasion. If I could pull it off, I'd do "Wake Up" by Arcade Fire, but linger in the dugout while those opening chords build before finally emerging when the massive choral refrain kicks in. I'd immediately get thrown at, but would it not be worth it? Anyway for the sake of pragmatism, I'll go with a song that strikes a balance between my tastes and contextual workability. How about Radiohead's epic "Paranoid Android", beginning at 5:38 when that monster riff kicks back in? In terms of pump-up value, that nasty riff's audio HGH. Besides, nothing says baseball like Radiohead!

As to the bonus question, the last time I remember listening to our players' walk-up music, it was just a bunch of dubstep and bro-country. Everybody loses.

‘Hoops

You can tell Jorge has given this way, way too much thought.

That said, he's got the basics right.  You don't have time to get a lot in during the walk-up music.  This is where being a relief pitcher is a huge advantage, because you get 2-3 minutes between the bullpen and the time the music stops.  You can do something like Meatloaf's "Anything for Love" because you have time to let the song slowly build.  Being a relief pitcher seems fun.

I'd love to be wittier, but I'm going with Still Fly for the walk-up song.  It jumps right into the chorus so you don't have to worry about the PA guy getting the timing on the cut just right - he just hits play and Birdman and Mannie Fresh take it from there.  It's got a solid beat to it that gets you in the mood for hitting, but also harkens back to a simpler time (the ‘90s), when things moved at a slower pace and we all learned a valuable lesson about the concept of hood rich.

Cockaboose

This is easy and simple for me. I'm going with Simple Man by Lynyrd Skynyrd. It was a great song for Ryan Klesko while in a Braves uniform. Although southern rock is better for tailgating it's great for a MLB and college baseball walk-up song too. Wait! I change my mind? This ain't so simple. I'm going with Billy Squire's intro to The Stroke.  Aww, heck just choose any heavy metal band from  the 80's like Motley Crue, Judas Priest, Ozzy and AC-DC and that could be my walk-up song.

Katie

Is "Eye of the Tiger" too cliche? Because I think I'd go with that. I don't really have much of a reason, other than it was the first song that popped into my head when I saw the question, and it seems like a good one that everyone would recognize right off the bat (no pun intended). Also, as a fun fact, Jim Peterik's son went to the same high school I did.

As for the bonus question...didn't LB Dantzler have Bieber as his walk up music a few years ago? I'm going with that (not really).

Kaci

Because I feel like I should be honest with y'all, I'll admit that the first song that popped into my head was Turn Down For What. I guess it would work because it's energetic, but it has definitely passed its peak of popularity. Although there are always a couple of people in a lineup that choose a song that's still somewhat popular at the beginning of the season but definitely played out like a month in, so I guess it wouldn't be unusual for me to do that. But after a little more thought, I'm going with the chorus of Dirt Off Your Shoulder by JayZ. This song was popular when I was in junior high and those of us on the track team that ran distance got really obsessed with it for some reason. I remember us encouraging each other in races by singing it to whoever was running, so I associate it with wanting to do good sports things which seems appropriate in a walk-up song.

For the bonus question I'm going with the theme song from Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, which Christian Walker used while he was here. It's not necessarily the best song we've had a player use from a musical standpoint, but it was great in terms of fun and fan engagement. Honorable mention goes to Matt Price with The Price is Right theme song and Joey Pankake with that ridiculous Pancakes and Syrup song because using a song with your name in it is awesome.