By Andre Boudreaux
The sounds coming from the University of Louisville’s Jim Patterson Stadium are more than the ping of the ball off the bat and the echo of the voice coming through the public address system.
At different points during baseball games, a wide range of music can be heard. The selections vary, from the players’ walk-up songs to “Walking on Sunshine” by Katrina and the Waves, played when an opposing pitcher walks a U of L player.
The walk-up songs are chosen on an individual basis and played for each batter as they exit the dugout and approach the plate for their turn to bat. It’s used as a last-second mood-setter as the batter steps into the box to swing away. Hopefully, it provides the batter that little bit extra to get a hit.
The selections range from the rap/hip hop beats of Lil Wayne and Chip Tha Ripper to the slowed-down, storytelling lyrics from Brad Paisley and Brantley Gilbert. Somewhere in the mix, the 1990s hit “Return of the Mack” by Mark Morrison sweeps over the crowd.
Just as you can expect to see hits, walks, steals and runs in a game, there are also certain songs that are almost guaranteed to be heard during a baseball game. Well, guaranteed at a Cardinal baseball game anyway. The song that is played during every game is “Omaha” by Counting Crows. The name of this song has a special significance to any knowledgeable college baseball fan. The College World Series – the March Madness of college baseball, if you will – is held every year in Omaha, Neb.
For all the new music and songs chosen by the players, baseball is still a timeless sport. The walk-up songs will change with the new and popular songs of that season. And then there are the timeless songs that have been played at ballparks for years. Some have been around since the time when members of the current Cardinal team were just beginning to play catch with their fathers.
One of the songs that has been played too many times for anyone to want to count is “Centerfield” by John Fogerty. This classic song relates the one wish of every baseball player: to play. It doesn’t matter if it is a young boy with “a beat-up glove, a homemade bat,” or Ty Cobb and Joe DiMaggio playing in the big leagues. Every player at every level just wants to play. This entertaining and uplifting song clearly brings that point across.
So the next time you want to enjoy a baseball game and listen to some Third Eye Blind, T.I. or Brad Paisley, head on down to a Cardinal baseball game. You’re sure to hear a song that will be forgotten a year from now, along with a song that has been around for the last 30 years and will be around for the next 30 years.
