D-backs hitters tune up for their walk-up songs

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — “It’s going down for real.”

On Opening Day Monday, Arizona Diamondbacks infielder Jake Lamb will step into the batter’s box to the tune of Flo Rida’s “Going Down for Real.”

G.D.F.R., featuring Sage the Gemini and Lookas, appears in the artist’s fifth album, Perfect 10. ESPN has used it in some NBA commercials during the 2014-15 season.

That’s how Lamb first heard the song. He liked the beat and said, “I can do this.” Initially, he put off listing his walk-up tune when the staff placed a sign-up sheet in the clubhouse. Finally they approached him, needing his choice.

“I usually like going with an ’80s hair band type of rock and roll song so I’ve yet to pick that,” Lamb said. “I have one picked for Opening Day, but it’s not the final for the season.”

One thing that’s certain: He won’t be using country.

“‘Cause that kind of puts me to sleep.”

Don’t let Paul Goldschmidt hear that.

“Go on drop yo’ tailgate, turn up your radio.”

The stadium will blast “It’z Just What We Do” by Florida Georgia Line when the infielder takes the box. He used it last year after having a different country song the previous two years. He struggled during that time ,so he went with a new beat one day.

“I got a couple of hits that night and stuck with it,” he said.

Even with a new tune, Goldschmidt doesn’t hear much of his song when he walks up. Fans are more likely to catch the tune, as hitters focus on the upcoming pitch.

“The only time I really hear it is when there’s a pitching change and they actually play more of the song,” he said. “If I’m watching Chris Owings hit, I can kind of hear his song from the dugout rather than when you’re actually hitting.”

Lamb echoed his teammate’s thoughts.

“It’s like you hear it the first few ABs and then you never hear it the rest of the season,” he said. “Like you hear it maybe the first week and you’re like, ‘Okay, alright, I’m the man, I’m walking up there, cool song,’ and then you seriously never hear it the rest of the season.”

Outfielder David Peralta will never let that happen. The Venezuelan loves some reggaetone, especially Tego Calderon. Peralta has used Calderon’s “Pa Que Lo Gozen” the last three years. And he likes his music loud.

“If I don’t hear it, I just go up to the guy and say, ‘Hey can you put it a little louder. I want to hear that song to get going,'” Peralta said.

The lyrics of the songs fly by Goldschmidt and outfielder Mark Trumbo. The instrumentals — the guitars, the drums — are all that’s necessary.

“Listen to me and believe what I say if you can.”

Trumbo’s beat is Black Sabbath’s “Falling off the Edge of the World.” He heard a live band cover the song, which is one of Black’s Sabbath’s obscure tunes. He downloaded it, and now should be a staple for the season.

“I like to get up. Some people like to mellow out but I like to get excited before I go out,” Trumbo said. “I think that rock and roll is probably going a little extinct in our game but I’m trying to keep it going.”

It’s unknown whether a walk-up song actually influences a batter’s performance. But for Trumbo, it helps change his mood.

That way he won’t fall over the edge of the world. Rather, like the rest of the MLB, he’ll hope “to sparkle and to shine.”

“I’ll take anything I can get as far as an advantage, music or otherwise.”

Chris Caraveo is a journalism student in the graduate program at Arizona State University. This story is part of a partnership between Arizona Sports 98.7 and Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

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