Exit light, enter night, take my hand, off to never never land

The moment occurred on a Saturday afternoon as the Defensive Specialist sat in his ridiculously expensive seat at Yankee Stadium. What was the moment you ask? Mariano Rivera emerging from the Yankee bullpen to the dulcet tones of Metallica’s ‘Enter Sandman’. Now Rivera has been doing that for a number of years and the Defensive Specialist is guessing that it started as a means to indicate that the game was being put to bed since Rivera has essentially been unhittable throughout his career.

Many of you may be scratching your head wondering where on earth the Defensive Specialist is going with this. What struck the Defensive Specialist at this ‘moment’ was the fact that Rivera is known to be a deeply religious man and the link between him and Metallica is an odd one. It is very difficult trying to imagine Rivera jumping into his car after the game and tossing in “Ride the Lightning”, “Kill em’ All” or even later work like “Death Magnetic”.

The seed had been planted and began to grow rapidly when the Defensive Specialist attended a game at Fenway and started to pay particular attention to the tunes that hitters were being announced to as they came to bat. Mike Lowell was using ‘London Calling’ by the Clash, while Dustin Pedroia was operating with some soft hip hop combo that no white man should ever be associated with. These were all topped by Jonathon Papelbon’s entrance music – The Dropkick Murphys ‘Shipping up to Boston’ which brings the house down.

Anyway, all of this auditory stimulation got the Defensive Specialist thinking about the most appropriate and best walk up or introductory songs to be used during a ball game.

A couple of key things to think about:

• Hitters typically get no more than 20 seconds from the time they are introduced by the public address announcer and the pitch being delivered so anything that has a rambling introduction (like the vast majority of work by Tool) wont cut it. Due to the short time frame, hitters may in fact have to cut their song down or have it start during a key part of the song.
• You want a song that gets people sparked up. No one wants easy listening, they want to have their neck hair stand on end with a song that pumps them up and can hopefully be correlated with the hitter doing something awesome
• Avoid dorky songs. Jason Varitek came to bat to ‘Kryptonite’ by 3 Doors Down. Not only does Varitek’s diminishing skill set seem ill-matched with the lyrics (featuring Superman), but the band is pure schlock rock.
• White guys should avoid hip hop. Look, noone enjoys 2 Pac and Dr Dre as much as the Defensive Specialist, but having white guys stroll to the plate to their beats just screams ‘wanna-be gangsta’. It’s even worse when the artists are Lil Wayne or Flo-Rida, that’s just missing the mark.
• Hard core techno is a bit much and should be avoided (Deep in the Hole pardon to Techno Tim Auty who is the only guy sanctioned to use it).
• Gimmicky songs can be quite amusing, especially if you can link it with your name or a commonly known nickname. Weird or funny songs can also score points. Regurgitator’s “I Sucked a lot of Cock to Get Where I am” probably doesn’t cut it however.
• As a rule, all Australians in the big leagues should be required by law to use Australian music. Have to stay true to your roots after all.
• It kind of needs to be manly. A couple of years ago, the Rockies catcher, Chris Ianetta walked up to ‘I can’t Dance’ by Genesis. The Defensive Specialist’s mother is a huge Genesis fan and it’s safe to say not even she would walk up to that! And no Justin Timberlake.
• Country music is the work of the Devil and should never ever be used (ok, so that is a little subjective).

The following link takes you to an ESPN website from a few years ago that allows you to access walk up songs for each MLB team as well as key metrics around genres.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/atbat

Look, its no exact science and is meant to be a little bit of fun, but under the above guidelines, lets try to determine a couple of rock solid options (whilst avoiding obvious choices like Hells Bells or Enter Sandman):


*some explicit lyrics in the video clips

Welcome to the Jungle – Guns ‘N’ Roses. The guitar intro is a little too long for a hitter but it is a totally insane song for a team running out onto the field (and the message it sends to the opposition is pretty cool) or for a relief pitcher running onto the field in relief.

Still D.R.E – Dr Dre- the keyboard intro is legit although censorship would be required for some of the lyrics. Could definitely be used by a hitter and is associated with a great scene in the movie Training Day.

Rock and Roll – Led Zeppelin. Awesome drum intro is perfect for a late game at bat where a big knock is required.

B.O.B – Outkast. The song counts you in and then takes off at about 100mph. Works for both hitters and pitchers.

Fight Fire with Fire – Metallica. You’d definitely have to scroll through some of the early guitar noodling until about the 42 second mark, the intensity gets turned up a thousand notches and your speakers blow up. A lot more suitable for hitters as the crowd would mosh to death if it was allowed to run its full length for a pitchers entry. In fact Metallica has a number of songs with specific sections that just dominate as intro music, another example being ‘One”.

Voodoo Child – Jimi Hendrix. Yeah, kind of a solid guitar riff right there. Definitely works well as a hitter’s walk up song. Plus it will have men aged between 50 – 60 dreaming lustily of their bong pipe.

Fuel – Metallica. Yes the Defensive Specialist knows that Metallica has been featured a few times but the lyrics “Give me fuel, give me fire, give me that which I desire” followed by a grunt is the perfect hard throwing relievers song.

Play your Part – Girl Talk. Something out of left field just to show that The Defensive Specialist isn’t just an old curmudgeon. A decent mash up featuring numerous styles although it would require the lyrics being blanked out at key points.

Joker and the Thief – Wolfmother. This song would be unbelievable for an Aussie reliever to run out of the bullpen to.

Stacked Actors – Foo Fighters. First 20 seconds features driving beats and guitar. Perfect hitter introduction song.

Midlife Crisis – Faith No More. Rolling drums, sinister vocals and sarcastic lyrics. The only down side is the mention of menstrual cycles. Solid for a pitcher introduction.

Lose Yourself – Eminem. Fast forward to about the 42-second mark. This could potentially send the crowd into a frenzy, especially in a tight game with a reliever coming in. Plus every white gangster could put their hat on crooked and freestyle rhymes.

Touch it – Daft Punk. Yes its electronic music but it pumps hard at the start, which is perfect for a hitter to walk up to.

Satisfaction – The Rolling Stones. The opening guitar riff is instantaneously recognizable and would get older people in the crowd clapping at the very least.

The Seed – The Roots. Look, it’s a song about unwanted pregnancy but its incredibly catchy. Definitely an edgy choice that may go down like a lead balloon. People would be dancing in the aisles before they realized what it was about.

Bullet With Butterfly Wings – Smashing Pumpkins. Great opening line “The world is a vampire” and then even better pounding drums.

Shazam- Spiderbait. The Defensive Specialist bops to this little Aussie ditty. 2.08  minutes of awesomeness.

Master Blaster – Stevie Wonder. People would question your sexuality but the title is spot on and it would get the yard swinging. Only appropriate for a pitcher.

Rappers Delight or Apache – Sugarhill Gang. The Defensive Specialist has only just stumbled back into these guys but they definitely fall into the amusing category.

Chop Suey – System of a Down. Power guitar riffs that will leave ears ringing.

2 of Americaz Most Wanted – 2Pac. Just solid beats throughout and featuring Snoop Dogg. Unfortunately the lyrics are laced with expletives.

Or if you’re prime time, you use a song specifically written about you like Joe Mauer!

The Defensive Specialist wants to know what you think, so hit the poll up to lodge your preference or record your choice in the comments section.