An iconic walk up song is a tune that sounds in the time between a baseball player walking from the on-deck circle through their trek into the batter’s box, or during the time that a new pitcher entering the game is warming up on the pitcher’s mound. For the Muhlenberg baseball team choosing their walk-ups is more of an art than a simple choice. They get to choose their own walk up song, and have it play during and before they face or throw that first pitch.
While these songs are fun to pick, they do help to lighten the mood during stressful situations.
Southpaw pitcher Jared Hildreth ‘20 is thankful that Head Coach, Tod Gross, allows them to pick their own signature walk up songs. “Luckily, here at Muhlenberg we are able to pick our own warm up and walk up song so that creates a wide variety of music genres that are played throughout the game,” said Hildreth. It creates a sense of comfort and relaxation that does help during games.
“For this season, I have picked Stick To The Plan by Big Sean. When I warm up on the mound the song plays right away,” Hildreth ‘20 continued. “The reason I chose this song is because of the lyrics that follow the theme of determination and “sticking to the plan” as well as the beat that goes along with the song.”
They use their songs to help motivate them, help push them to do better. For Hildreth, he looks at the walk up songs as a highlight of the practice and the game. “I think the best walk up songs are the ones in which help a person get into the zone and relax them for the competition. A song with a little swag doesn’t hurt either.”
The process of ultimately picking a song was definitely not. easy. “I didn’t know what song I wanted before. I didn’t go into it knowing what I wanted, Hildreth said, but he knew Stick To The Plan was the right one as soon as he heard it.
For Billy Brittingham ‘20, the theme is the same. He too looks for a walk up song that helps motivate, and most importantly, brings energy to the game. Brittingham decided on, Solo by Future, because it’s his “favorite of all time.”
“A good walk up needs to have good build up to a heavy bass drop. I prefer any good hip-hop song. The walk up song must be something that has stamina, that creates a mood for the rest of the practice and the game,” Brittingham explained.
Pitcher RJ Hennessey ‘19 enjoys the freedom of choosing his own walk up song, going with the song U.O.E.N.O Remix by Rocko ft. Future and Wiz Khalifa. “In looking for a walk up and warm up song, I generally look for a song that has a good beat and is a good pump up song to get myself, as well as the other guys on the field pumped up for the start of the game,” said Hennessey.
Being a pitcher, his song is played more frequently during warm ups and for a longer time. He appreciates his teammates’ walk up songs that motivate him to play the game better.
Each upperclassmen walk up song is reflective of their personality. The songs they chose define who they are and allow for their personalities to be shown to the fans and the rest of their teammates.
