Blue Jays walk-up music facts- Part 2: Pitcher’s tunes
Part 1 of the Blue Jay’s walk-up music facts featured the players in the batting lineup. Part two gives another exclusive look. This time, it’s the pitcher’s music.
We learned about their worst walk-up songs in Spring Training. But fans of the Toronto Blue Jays should notice that the players have a variety of different tastes in music.
What’s interesting is the different genres you hear since the players come from different backgrounds. It’s awesome to see what type of music they enjoy since it gives the fans an idea what music they’re into.
There’s even a website called MLB plate Music that gives fans a resource for songs that their favourite players use.
Surprisingly enough, Justin Smoak is the only batter to use a country song and the biggest shocker is that no batter used a Drake song.
Anyways, here is part two of the Blue Jays walk-up music facts. It’s the songs the pitchers chose when they come out to the mound and warm up.
Don’t worry, there’s a ton of variety in this article too. One pitcher used a popular folk song, and three pitchers used a country song. But most of all, one pitcher used Drake.
Biagini, Estrada, and Grilli’s tunes
Joe Biagini
One by Three Dog Night
One is the loneliest number that you’ll ever do Two can be as bad as one It’s the loneliest number since the number one
‘One’ summarizes the trials and pressures of a pitcher challenged with keeping opposing hitters from getting on base. It’s essentially Biagini’s role on the team and he’s excellent at it.
Three Dog Night lead singer Harry Nillson’s classic was inspired by making a phone call and listening to the busy signal for a while.
In fact, Biagini used ‘Tears of a Clown’ by Smokey Robinson last year.
Marco Estrada
Bodies by Drowning Pool
‘Bodies’ is a signature song that has been featured in various films, TV shows, and advertisements since its 2001 release. For anyone familiar with it, despite its somewhat dark lyrical content, there’s no debating the “pump-up value” of the track.
It was the theme song for the 2001 WWF Superslam pay-per-view event as well.
Jason Grilli
Whipping by Pearl Jam
Don’t need a helmet, got a hard, hard head
Grilli never takes that lyric to heart against his opponents.
Upon its CD release, the album Vitalogy became the second-fastest-selling album in history. Behind the band’s previous album VS., selling over 877,000 copies in its first week.
Happ, Howell, Leone and Liriano’s tunes
J.A. Happ
Take It All Back 2.0 by Judah and the Lion
‘Take It All Back’ is the 11th track from Judah and the Lion’s debut album Folk Hop N’ Roll.
It’s very rare for a baseball player to use a folk song compared to a heavier beat by Drake or Kanye West.
The song reached the No.1 spot on Billboard’s Alternative Songs chart for three consecutive weeks.
J.P. Howell
Tunnel Vision Instrumental by Kodak Black
The song title is ideal for pitchers on the mound. Eyeing down home plate to get a strike down the middle.
‘Tunnel Vision’ is the second single from Kodak Black’s debut album Painting Pictures.
Dominic Leone
Split (Only U) by Tiesto & The Chainsmokers
Leone is the only player on the roster to use an EDM song. The song itself has over 28,000,000 plays on Spotify and is very familiar with the fan base at the Rogers Centre.
Francisco Liriano
Vaiven by Daddy Yankee
Daddy Yankee, aka Ramon Luis Ayala Rodriguez, aspired to be a baseball player and even tried out for the Seattle Mariners.
It wasn’t meant to be as he turned to music and that worked out pretty well for the King of Reggaeton.
Loup, Osuna, Sanchez and Smith
Aaron Loup
The Outsiders by Eric Church
Loup is one of two pitchers on the roster who uses a country song. The album itself was nominated for Best Country at the 57th annual Grammy Awards.
Roberto Osuna
Don’t Panic by French Montana
The song title is self-explanatory for Osuna Matata fans.
But, French Montana is neither French or from Montana. His birth name is Karim Kharbouch he was born in Morrocco who immigrated to the United States with his family when he was 13-years old.
Aaron Sanchez
Ambition by Wale
The self-titled album was nominated for Best Rap Song at the 55th annual Grammy Awards.
Wale even had an Ambition tour that featured artists such as Rick Ross, J. Cole, and Big Sean.
Joe Smith
My Kind of Party by Jason Alden
‘My Kind of Party’ is a song by Jason Aldean, which was written by another Country artist, Brantley Gilbert.
Smith is the only other pitcher who uses a country song for his intro music. Justin Smoak and Aaron Loup are the other players who use country songs as well.
The song went No. 2 on Billboard’s US Hot Country Songs in 2010.
Last but not least, Stroman and Tepera
Marcus Stroman
KMT by Drake feat. Giggs
KMT is an acronym meaning Kissin’ My Teeth. It’s the fifteenth track on Drake’s More Life playlist.
The song has also gained popularity among gamers for sampling ‘His World, the theme of Sonic ’06.
Giggs (Nathaniel Robinson) is a British rapper who collaborated with Drake on the song.
In 2016, Giggs’ fourth album Landlord, which entered and peaked at No. 2 on the UK Albums Chart as it became Giggs’ highest-charting album of his career. It is also his most critically acclaimed album.
Ryan Tepera
Welcome Home by Coheed and Cambria
The song was featured as a playable track in the video game Rock Band, and on the soundtrack of Madden NFL 06 for Xbox 360.
Tepera was called up numerous times last season. It’s fitting to say that he’s found a comfortable spot in the bullpen, feeling right at home in the majors.
And that brings us to the conclusion of the walk-up music series. Which player has the best song? Does anyone desperately need to change their music? It’s a little thing throughout the course of the game and season, but it can turn into a fun interaction with fans, and in many cases that’s exactly how players treat it.