The Best Walk Up Songs & Songs About Baseball

Like the Dropkick Murphy’s Shipping Out to Boston taking over the nation in 2004. Red Sox nation.

| Read: 4 min

A baseball player walking up to bat listening to the walk up song he chose
What song is he listening to?

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Take Me Out To The Ball Game

Here's Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly doing their own version of Take Me Out To The Ball Game.

Centerfield (John Fogerty)

If it wasn't for Take Me Out To The Ball Game, Centerfield would be the best song ever written about America's National Pastime. That's because it's all about the game, and not just a passing mention or one dedicated verse in a song. It's the entire thing.

And, it's about a position that just doesn't get the love that it deserves.

Victory Song (AAGPBL)

You know Victory Song as the song that gets sung at the end of A League Of Their Own.

"We're the members of the All-American League. We come from cities near and far. We've got Canadians, Irish ones, and Swedes. We're all for one, we're one for all. We're all Americans"

Here is a rendition at the 2006 All-Star FanFest in Pittsburgh.

Glory Days (Bruce Springsteen)

It‘s probably a fact that everyone has heard this Bruce Springsteen hit at least once in their life. Probably.

"I had a friend was a big baseball player, Back in high school, He could throw that speedball by you, Make you look like a fool, boy"

Apparently Glory Days is about a childhood friend of Springsteen. It gets right to it in the first verse. Baseball is all throughout the music video. It's got a kid in suspenders traipsing through Springsteen's bedroom with a wiffleball bat. Doesn't get more Alex P. Keaton 1984 than that, does it?

The Ballad of Ichiro Suzuki

The Greatest

Kenny Rogers

Did You See Jackie Robinson Hit That Ball

A song by Count Basie,

Cheap Seats

Everyone has sat in the cheap seats at least once in their life. Some don't even have a view (see Park, Fenway).

Joe DiMaggio Done It Again

DiMaggio himself is one of the players with the most MLB rings in history. Given that, Joe DiMaggio Done It Again makes sense.

Catfish

Jacques Levy and Bob Dylan wrote Catfish, a song performed by Joe Cocker in 1976, about James Augustus “Catfish“ Hunter. Catfish Hunter, a man who loved to hunt and fish (go figure), was a Hall of Fame pitcher who won five World Series titles as a member of the Oakland Athletics (3x) and the New York Yankees (2x).

Plus, you know you‘ve got a hit on your hands when Billy Martin makes an appearance in your song.

Here’s a verse from the song, “Reggie Jackson at the plate, Seein’ nothin’ but the curve, Swing too early or too late, Got to eat what Catfish serve”

Sounds like Catfish tossed out Ol’ Uncle Charlie to Reggie.

Ok Blue Jays

So, yeah, Ok Blue Jays.

Typical Baseball Walk-Up Songs

Some songs just aren’t as specific to a person as Limp Bizkit’s Rollin’. Some are just timeless classics from legendary artists and can pump everyone up for an at-bat.

These songs come from rock bands like AC/DC, Guns N’ Roses and Led Zeppelin. They come from Hip-Hop artists like Nelly, Kendrick Lamar or Dr. Dre, whom Dustin Pedroia of the Boston Red Sox used for different songs for different plate appearances in the same baseball game.

Common Walk-Up Songs like:

If you think about it, it makes sense. Like, what hitter thought to themself before an at-bat, “You know what, Tracy Chapman’s song, Fast Car, is really what I need to get the blood flowing.” No one in high school. No one in college. And certainly no baseball players in the MLB.

Here's a quote from the AP about Oscar Gonzalez of the Cleveland Guardians and his walk up song.

"Gonzalez walks to the plate to the theme for “SpongeBob SquarePants,” a fitting anthem for baseball’s youngest team. “I go there singing the song because I have a big body,” Gonzalez said through a translator. “But deep inside I feel like a kid.”"

Why Rollin’ (Air Raid Vehicle) is The Best Walk-Up Songs in Major League Baseball

This song couldn’t have come out at a better time, as Philadelphia All-Star 3rd Baseman, Scott Rolen was just getting warmed up in 2000, the year of Rollin’s release.

For those that don’t know, Limp Bizkit‘s hit song, Rollin’ is the best walk-up song in the history of baseball. The lyrics of the chorus are, “Keep rollin’, rollin’, rollin’, rollin’” ... and in case you didn’t put it together, Scott’s last name sounds exactly as it is spelled.

He essentially got to have his name called twice (actually, 5x) on the way to the plate. Once when the announcer said, “Now batting, Scott Rolen”, and then four more times when the song said, “Rollin’, Rollin’, Rollin’, Rollin’!”

Now, before we move on, we should mention that the song is absolutely terrible. But, for a brief few seconds, especially when played in context, it is a masterpiece. So congrats, Scott Rolen, you chose ... wisely.

Bonus: Wild Thing as a Walk-Up Song

The greatest fictional walk-up song of all-time, Wild Thing is the calling card of Rick Vaughn, a character played by Charlie Sheen in the hit movie, Major League in 1989. Nicknamed Wild Thing for his lack of accuracy, the character’s charm and personality, along with a 80 grade fastball, have everyone in the stadium singing along.

The version used in the movie was recorded by a band named X, and not the Wild Ones, the original performers, or The Troggs, who popularized the Chip Taylor penned tune. An entrance song of a lifetime, Wild Thing is.

Forget about the curveball, Ricky. Give 'em The Heater.

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References & Sources