Sun Devils vibe to eclectic music with walk-up songs
- Andrew Hayslett
- Jun 5
- 4 min read
PHOENIX – Close your eyes and imagine you are at a baseball game. What sounds do you hear?
You probably thought of a crack of a bat (or, in college’s case, the plink of a metal one), a glove pop when a player catches a ball, some dugout chatter or an umpire making a strike three call.
If you did not think of something on the field, you almost certainly thought of something in the crowd, like a vendor yelling, “Lemonade, lemonade, just like Grandma made,” a fan always arguing about an umpire call, moaning, “come on blue!” or even just the roar of the crowd when there is a big play.
If you were thinking deeply about it, you would have thought of sound effects from the stadium’s speakers or even your favorite song playing in between innings or perhaps your team’s organ player playing on its keys.
There is a chance you might think of the Public Address Announcer, announcing your favorite player’s name, such as “Now pitching number 14, Cole Carlon!”
But you might not have thought of the sound that immediately follows, the players' walk-up song, and what you would hear after Carlon’s name gets called is the opening line of Treaty Oak Revival’s song “Have a Nice Day” being: “She’s got that look that I know too well” being sung by the band’s frontman Sam Canty in his southern rock voice.
Walk-up songs are often overlooked in baseball. It shows off the player's music tastes and, therefore, a bit of their personality, and there is a process behind it. The Sun Devils have a wide variety of walk-up songs this season.
“You've got to find the music that you like and want to listen to,” Carlon said.
The process for some players, including Carlon, is to narrow down to a handful of songs and visualize what might sound good over the stadium’s speakers. Then, some players like to ask other people for their opinions.
Carlon asked his three roommates, junior righty Wyatt Halvorson, redshirt sophomore catcher Brody Briggs and junior right-hander Josh Butler for their input, and the junior lefty landed on “Have a Nice Day” as his walk-up song for the 2025 and 2026 seasons.
Last season, Halvorson took a similar path to Carlon after Briggs suggested Chris Stapleton’s “White Horse” when the duo played in the Alaska Baseball League in the 2024 summer. Halvorson went with a different approach this offseason as his dad, Greg (who was also a Sun Devil pitcher), suggested “Renegade” by Styx.
Like Halvorson, 5th-year outfielder Dean Toigo relied on his family for input. He goes to his sister and brother-in-law with a few songs to help.
“I am not the best about music,” Toigo said. “They have a bit more of an idea than I do.”
Walk-up songs let players hear something they are comfortable with before they step into the batter's box or onto the mound. Some players prefer faster songs and others prefer slower ones, just depending on the mood and mindset they want to have.
The Sun Devils have an eclectic mix of songs spanning 14 different genres, such as Alternative, Christian, Country, Hip-Hop/Rap, Pop and Rock. Those genres come from Apple Music, which could be broken down into different subgenres or merged into fewer genres.
The different genres reflect the players’ personalities or upbringings. For example, the Hawaiian-born Nu’u Contrades chose the only song in the Hawaiian genre, that being “Hawaiian Hitman” by Pohaku. The redshirt junior second baseman is the lone player on the team from Hawaii.
Toigo was the lone Sun Devil to pick a Reggae walk-up song. He picked “Attention Span” by Rebelution.
“I like to have something with not a lot of singing, more for the rhythm and vibes,” Toigo said.
The upbeat rhythm and good vibes of the instrumental part of the song help get him hyped up.
Sophomore righty Eli Buxton does not consult others as he wants music that gets him pumped up to pitch. He chose Fleetwood Mac’s “The Chain” this year after picking Shaggy’s “Mr. Bombastic” last season. He picked “The Chain” after hearing it in his first start in Alaska last summer.
“They played that song as I was going out there, and I just really liked it,” Buxton said. “I liked walking out to it, pitching to it, warming up and (I) wrote it down.”
Junior first baseman Dominic Smaldino likes to get the crowd involved, and his primary walk-up song is the well-known “Still D.R.E” by Dr. Dre featuring Snoop Dogg. He likes slower-paced songs and, like Toigo, uses the instrumental of the song.
Garrett Michel likes to be in a good, happy mood and a positive mindset while walking up to the plate. The redshirt junior infielder selected a trio of songs, with the Black Eyed Peas “Rock That Body” as his primary song.
That mood is also reflected in junior utility Dominic Longo’s selection, “Feeling Good” by Michael Bublé.
Redshirt junior right-hander Colin Linder has a different approach to his walk-up song. He wants a song that motivates him before locking in to warm up.
“I actually don’t hear it too much, I’ll hear it for the first 10, 15 seconds,” Linder said. “After that, it’s kind of blocked out in my head.”
He then wants to completely focus on his eight warm-up pitches, which are extremely important to him.
Sophomore southpaw Easton Barrett has a different story of how he landed on “Smooth Operator” by Sade. Barrett, who often frequents the golf course, was given the nickname “Smooth” based on his smooth swing by his college teammates before his freshman season.
“Then one of the guys played ‘Smooth Operator,’ and then it flourished from there,” Barrett said.
The song also helps Barrett get into the mindset of having smooth mechanics as well.
Walk-up songs are unique to each player, as they all want something different from their song, showing off a bit of their distinct personalities to fans.
“Walk-up songs are huge on the person and what gets them in the right mood and the mindset,” Michel said.
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