Michael Woodworth’s walk-up song by Kanye West is easily recognizable. Photo by Eric Wang/The Daily Campus
UConn baseball finally held their home opener this week, tallying wins over Hartford and Boston College. More importantly, however, we finally got to hear the Huskies’ 2019 walk-up songs.
The walk-up song is the one thing you can do as a player—beyond growing six inches, tapping the plate real hard or having an unorthodox batting stance—to brand yourself to the fans and opposing players, so picking a good one is important.
A couple players’ haven’t changed from last year (apparently the guys have been late putting in their requests in to the marketing department), but I’m going to rate them anyway.
Michael Woodworth: “Good Life” Kanye West feat. T-Pain
One of the best feel-good songs of the past two decades (jeez, it’s really been 12 years since “Graduation” came out), this song starts with an iconic line and uplifting synths and soul samples.
“Good Life” is immediately recognizable, which works really well when you only get to play the first 20-30 seconds of a song. It’s also perfect for a player with a game and personality like Woodworth’s, always positive and looking to make something good happen when he steps up to the plate.
I’ve heard it a million times so I can’t say it’s my favorite song in the world, but it checks all the other boxes.
8/10
Anthony Prato: “Who Shot Ya” Biggie
No other player’s song fits their brand as well as this one does for Anthony Prato. New York through and through, if the Staten Island native picked any other artist to introduce him to fans and the opposition, it would be a disappointment.
It’s a great song too, gritty and different from the modern pop music most often used.
The only reason this song would lose points is that it starts out too slow, so he has the team start it from the first titular line in the song.
9/10
John Toppa: “I Wonder” Kanye West
The second entrant from Kanye West’s third studio album, this song takes a little longer to get going than the first, which makes for a little less effective walk-up song.
It’s still a good track, but doesn’t have quite the punch that Good Life does to start off. I can’t knock it down too far, though.
7/10
Chris Winkel: “100 Grandkids” Mac Miller
First off, rest in peace Mac Miller. This song starts out with a catchy beat—again, a huge boon for a walk-up song—and is perfect for the older Winkel’s easy-going personality.
It’s along the same lines as his great walk-up song from last year, the lesser-known song “7th King” by Felly. It seems more appropriate for chilling in the car than getting hyped up, but I can’t punish it too much for being perfectly on-brand for the smooth-swinging lefty.
8/10
Christian Fedko: “Deliverer” Matt Maher
This isn’t really my kind of music, but it has meaning to the Fedko brothers beyond the baseball field. The song itself is a little slow to get going, but not a bad walk-up song otherwise.
5/10
Kyler Fedko: “Broken Things” Matthew West
A similar track to his brother’s, but this one is definitely more upbeat and catchy, which makes for a better walk-up song. Broken Things is solid—it doesn’t blow me away, but it does the job.
6/10
Thad Phillips: “Como Soy” Daddy Yankee feat. Bad Bunny and Pacho
This track has everything you want in a walk-up. It’s a catchy tune, fits the player well and has mildly threatening lyrics (for anyone who happens to speak Spanish) over an ominous beat.
Bad Bunny is also underrated as hell, and should have much greater representation in walk-up songs in college baseball and otherwise.
10/10
Paul Gozzo: “All Along the Watchtower” Jimi Hendrix
Classic song. Classic opening rift. Pretty much the perfect walk-up song. I was really missing Troy Stefanski’s entry this year (“You Make My Dreams Come True” by Hall and Oates), but this one more than makes up for it. My only complaint is that Gozzo can’t take the entire 4:01 to walk to the plate.
10/10
Anthony Nucerino: “The Joker” Steve Miller Band
This song starts out with an iconic baseline and iconic lyrics. People love it. It’s just not for me. I’ve heard it a million times on 80s radio stations ever since I was a kid. I just don’t like it. Nobody calls you the dang space cowboy, Steve! It’s a solid choice in a vacuum, I just can’t rate it any higher.
4/10
Luke Swanson is a staff writer for The Daily Campus. He can be reached via email at luke.swanson@uconn.edu.