Okay so today I finally tackled this baseball walk-up song mess for my cousin’s college team. Kid called me last week freaking out. Playoffs coming up, whole team stuck, no idea what tunes to blast when they step up to bat. Supposed to pump ’em up, right? But everyone’s lost. Figured, fine, I’ll dig in. Been awhile since I messed with this stuff.
Stumbled Out the Gate
First thought: just grab whatever’s popular. Bad idea. My ears ain’t eighteen anymore. Listened to the Billboard top ten this morning. Man, nope. Couldn’t see any player bouncing to that stuff with a bat in hand. Too polished? Too… sleepy? Felt wrong. Wasted two hours. Coffee got cold.
Then went hunting online for “best walk up songs”. Big mistake. Pages and pages of junk. Everyone pushing their own playlist. Some sites suggested songs from like, ten years ago. Others tried to get real complicated about bpm and beats matching your swing. Come on. Ain’t rocket science. You need something quick that grabs people by the collar the second it hits. Loud intro, maybe a solid beat drop. Instant energy. Shoulda known better than to trust random lists.
Tried Getting Organized (Failed Miserably)
Got frustrated. Decided “Okay, be smart about this”. Made a spreadsheet. Sounds useful, right? Columns for player name, position, what kind of vibe they wanted. Asked my cousin to get details. Big disaster.
- Player 1 (Shortstop): Said “something hype”. Real helpful, thanks.
- Player 2 (Pitcher): “Something that sounds like my fastball.” What does THAT sound like?
- Player 3 (Outfielder): “My dad likes country.” …Okay?
Spreadsheet stared back at me, empty columns mocking me. Total waste of time. Players don’t think like that. They just feel it. Need something personal, not a formula. So much for my fancy system.
The Lightbulb Moment (Super Simple, Actually)
Gave up on the spreadsheet. Threw it out. Grabbed my phone, scrolled through my cousin’s team Instagram stories real quick. Saw one dude always posts clips working out to hard rap beats. Another guy constantly shares clips of him drumming on random stuff – kitchen counters, dashboard. Rhythm for days. Saw a girl’s story with a bunch of friends screaming lyrics to some pop punk anthem. Ding ding ding!
That’s it.
- Don’t ask them “what kind of vibe?” Nonsense.
- Don’t pick the song FOR them. They’ll hate it.
- Just ask: “What’s the ONE song you instantly turn up and start jamming to when it comes on? No thinking. The song that grabs you every single time.”
Called my cousin back. Told him the plan. Give ’em the weekend. Each player needs to pick ONE song, their immediate go-to hype track. Not what they think sounds cool for baseball. The one they just can’t help reacting to.
Results? Way Better Than Expected
Cousin texted me last night. Whole team actually loved it. Simple question cut through the noise.
- Shortstop? Found some heavy electronic track with a wild intro he blasts before practice.
- Pitcher? Went with a hip-hop track he always plays before throwing sessions. Beat sounds like power, he said.
- Outfielder? Dumped country completely. Picked a pop song her friends blast at parties. Said she gets instantly hyped.
They tried them out yesterday at practice. Apparently it WORKED. Coaches felt the energy shift. Players actually looking forward to stepping into the box now. No committee meetings, no spreadsheets. Just let the player pick the song that moves them without overthinking it. The song does the talking. Took me a dumb spreadsheet and hours of frustration to figure out the stupidly obvious solution. Sometimes the easiest way really is the best way. Just point ’em to the music they already love.