Blue Jays walk-up music facts- Part 1: Batter’s music

Walk-up music for players did not evolve until 1993. The Seattle Mariners were noted as the first team to do it for every player in the lineup.

As baseball has adopted many different ways to bring a uniqueness and fun to the ballpark, walk-up music has become a part of Major League Baseball. A lot of thoughts come to your mind whenever you hear the song by a player whether they’re walking up to the batter’s box or up to the mound.

Do they like the artist? Is this their favourite song? Why did they choose that particular song?

In fact, MLB even has a rule regarding the use of walkout songs.

Any musical clip used to introduce a batter should start immediately after the public address announcement and should stop when the batter reaches the dirt cut-out surrounding home plate. Music clips between pitches are limited to 15 seconds in order not to encourage the hitter to leave the batter’s box. For pitchers, they have a two-minute warm up before the game begins with their song included.

To give Blue Jays fans an idea what music the players like, here is part one of an exclusive look at the Toronto Blue Jays walkup music. It feature’s each players song with an interesting fact or two about each song.

Before the slideshow, here’s a video of some of the players discussing their worst walk-up songs.

As the DJ’s say, let the beat drop!

Darwin Barney

Attention Span by Rebelution

Rebelution is a reggae group from Isla Vista, California. This song was on their debut album Courage to Grow which was released in 2007. Their 2016 album Falling Into Place was nominated for Best Reggae Album at the Grammy’s this year.

It Was A Good Day by Ice Cube

The chill-out, feel-good vibe by Ice Cube is an instant 90’s classic. It was released in 1993 from his third solo album The Predator.  His son, O’Shea Jackson Jr., portrayed his father in the 2015 film Straight Outta Compton.

Barney is the only Blue Jay who has two songs listed by his name on the team website, so you could hear some Cube, or some Reggae when the utility infielder steps into the box.

Jose Bautista

New Level by A$AP Ferg feat. Future

The first song released on A$AP Ferg’s Always Strive & Prosper album. Cleveland Browns wide receiver Josh Gordon, BMX rider Nigel Sylvester, and Olympic Fencer Daryl Homer all make cameo appearances in the music video.

While the actual songs itself has several questionable lyrics, the phase “I’m on a new level” isn’t exactly the worst mantra to have repeating as you approach the plate, so it’s appeal would make some sense to “Joey Bats”.

Ezequiel Carrera

Orta Vez by Zion y Lennox feat. J. Balvin

The Puerto Rican duo received an ASCAP (American Society of Composers Authors and Publishers)  award for best Latin Urban Song for Otra Vez.

Chris Coghlan

Eye of the Tiger by Survivor

The song gained tremendous popularity as it was the theme song for Rocky III. The song was written by guitarist Frankie Sullivan and keyboardist Jim Peterik at the request of Sylvester Stallone after Queen denied him to use ‘Another one bites the Dust’.

‘Eye of the Tiger’ won a Grammy for Best Rock Performance by Duo or Group with Vocals.

Of course, it’s also famous for many different cinematic sporting moments, and it’s pretty hard to deny your body’s impulses when the opening guitar riff begins.

Josh Donaldson

Congratulations by Post Malone

‘Congratulations’ is the first single from Post Malone’s debut album Stoney.

The song is all about celebrating success, so why not have a walk-up song that celebrates that since Donaldson was the American League MVP in 2015. The verse from the song below is a good reference to that.

They said I wouldn’t be nothing Now they always say congratulations Worked so hard, forgot how to vacation They ain’t never had the dedication

By the way, Austin Post is the artist’s real name and he’s only 21-years old.

Steve Pearce

Self-esteem by The Offspring

‘Self-esteem’ was a worldwide hit. Reaching No. 1 in Latvia, Norway, and Sweden as it was one of the more successful singles by the Offspring. The band is known for their high-energy brand of punk rock, and it’s not hard to get the blood flowing when they come through your speakers.

It’s popularity from the music video on MTV launched the song into mainstream radio success. Ranking No. 45 on the US Billboard Radio Songs list.

Kevin Pillar

That’s What I Like by Bruno Mars

What Blue Jays are liking so far this season is the hot bat of Pillar.

‘That’s What I Like’ is the second radio single from Mars’ 24k Magic album as it really took off after his performance at the Grammys this year.

The music video has well over 315,000,000 views.

Justin Smoak

The Weekend by Brantley Gilbert

Live it up for the weekend Pour it up, have the time of your life Take a shot full of regrets Double up and it’s bound to get buck wild

Gilbert and co-writer Andrew DeRoberts never met until the song had been written. They actually conducted the songwriting over the phone.

For the country fans, Smoak is the only batter in the lineup to even use a country song.

Devon Travis

No Problem by Chance the Rapper feat. Lil Wayne & 2 Chainz

Rolling Stone named this song as one of the 30 best songs of the first half of 2016. The music video features cameos by DJ Khaled and Young Thug.

‘No Problem’ comes from the debut album Coloring Books. Which went on to win Best Rap Album at the Grammys this year.

Troy Tulowitzki

Swish by Mike Stud

Michael Seander aka Mike Stud was a relief pitcher at Duke University and was teammates with Marcus Stroman during their time at Duke.

While recovering from Tommy John Surgery, Seander actually got his break when he released a music video for College Humor in December 2010.

‘Swish’ is the first track from his 2016 album These Days. The self-titled track features a music video that features Stroman.

It’s pretty cool that Tulo started to adopt this song, and it’ll be interesting to see how many cameos Marcus Stroman makes in the music world as his career, brand, and popularity develop. I’m sure he’s thankful for his teammate’s choice of tunes on this case, as Stud would be as well.

There you have it, Part 1 of the the Walk-Up songs for the 2017 Toronto Blue Jays, with Part 2 coming in the near future.

Next: Blue Jays: The case against Biagini as a starter

Which player has the best song from Part 1?