Located in downtown St. Louis, Busch Stadium serves up 81 regular season games for the St. Louis Cardinals. They’re the oldest Major League Baseball team West of the Mississippi and bring joy home in the form of World Series titles, second only to the New York Yankees. Together, this team and stadium provide plenty of entertainment to both home and away fans.
One way they keep the energy high is through walk-up songs, selected by each player as a way to psych them up as they head to the plate. From rock to country and beyond, these players chose songs from a wide array of musical genres to make that walk, from the on deck circle to home plate, more exciting.
More Than Birdsongs
There’s no clucks, chirps, or squawks echoing through the stadium’s PA system when the Cardinals players approach home plate. There is, however, plenty of hip-hop and rap followed closely by rock. Hip-hop and rap make up the most popular genre on streaming services within the United States, so it’s no surprise to see it be first in the lineup. Not far behind is rock, trailed by Latin to round out the top three genres for Cardinals players walk-up songs.
Three players – centerfielder Randal Grichuk and pitchers Jerome Williams and Jaime García – all stuffed the ballot box as each chose two different walk-up songs. Randal divided his love for rap and hip-hop, with Nelly’s “Here Comes the Boom,” and country, with Florida Georgia Line’s “This Is How We Roll.” Jerome doubled down on hip-hop and rap with Que’s “OG Bobby Johnson” and Eminem’s “’Till I Collapse.” Jaime brought some rap and hip-hop to the table with Sidelajus’ “Warriors” and a mix of Latin-Mexican Regional genres with La Arrolladora’s “Sabor Al Caldo.”
Those enjoying rock, like first baseman Brandon Moss and pitchers Jonathan Broxton and Zack Duke, opted to go with classics. Moss struts out to “Can’t Stop Rock N’ Roll” by AC/DC, while Broxton takes his steps to the sounds of “Iron Man” by Black Sabbath. Duke reaches back to “Magic Man” by Heart, first released in 1975 (eight years before he was born).
Squawking In Stereo
Sure, none of these players were willing to admit their love for Taylor Swift or Justin Bieber, but they’ve all selected a personally perfect track to get them ready for an at-bat. As long as it helps them contribute singles, doubles, triples, or even a few home runs, fans and coaches will be willing to put up with pretty much anything.
No matter what songs are on your playlist, you can get ready to cheer on your team with Fanatics – where you’ll find the very best officially licensed MLB apparel and merchandise.
Sources
- https://www.britannica.com/topic/St-Louis-Cardinals
- http://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/rock-music-twice-popular-pop-america-rb-rules-streaming/
- http://m.mlb.com/player/435043/zach-duke
- http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/fan_forum/ballpark_music.jsp?c_id=stl
