Intro Songs

Every year since my high school days, starting with portable cd players, tape cassessets in the car, and in the past 10 years advancing to big clunky ipods to the iphone 4, I always enjoy certain music before the game in my headphones.

As far back as I can remember, I used certain songs to pump me up before baseball games. In High School it was a mix of classic rock and rap. Coolio – It’s all the Way Live ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERRsGLsTyso ) when I was just beginning high school, 2Pac’s Hit ‘em Up ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIjDAU05JgU&feature=fvst ), NaS – One Mic ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7C9cx9_wW9I ), Jay-Z’s Come and Get Me ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCVnjBJZ3To ), and Notorious B.I.G. and Bone Thugs – Notorious Thugs ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2p5TrW3BbQQ ) were staples of mine throughout high school. In my Junior and Senior years I listened to a rare live version of Led Zeppelin’s Whole Lotta Love ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uPKcMkH0vw&ob=av3e ) before summer league games with the Michigan Rams, and before my fantastic senior year at North Farmington it was Tom Petty’s Running Down a Dream ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1D3a5eDJIs ). When I started college we were allowed to pick “walk-out” songs that would be played by the P.A. when I would come into the game.
I remember my sophomore year I did a mix of Jay-Z’s P.S.A. as an intro ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAbxCTABfis ), which went into Dirt Off Your Shoulder ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oz_-VaTHpc8&ob=av2e ), fresh from the recently released Black Album.

My junior year I used a rare classic rock song from the group Traffic called Empty Pages (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfHt4kY8Io8&feature=related ) that had an awesome organ rift that reminded me of childhood games at Wrigley Field.

At GW in my senior year I couldn’t decide between T.I. – What you Know about that ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZJW-rkVKFE ) and Talib Kweli – Feel the Rush ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gydBx-rGBdo ), so I settled with the theme from Kill Bill (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsF45oe6d5o&feature=related ).

At Hoboken in 2007, I started getting into Metallica before the game as well as new style of house/techno that I started to enjoy after arriving in Europe, highlighted by Eric Prydz vs. Pink Floyd – Proper Education (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IttkDYE33aU ). When I traveled down to Israel for the rest of the 2007 season, recently released Stronger by Kanye West ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsO6ZnUZI0g&ob=av2e ) and Black Maybe by Common ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mW_NFwOTjXc ) were my pre-game songs.

In 2008 at Tex Town once again they played walk-out songs and I used a Moby song called Graciosa from one of my favorite movies – Any Given Sunday ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbBxSNqwgOU ). I still think is the best one I ever had.

In 2009 at Almere I was all set with MSTRKRFT remixes – 1,000 Cigarettes ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1STkAaWzKI ) and Click Click ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDgzptvqwuM ), and Kaskade’s Sorry (Dirty South Remix) ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrQiFxSitwI ) until one of my first games the announcer played a random song with an amazing intro beat before one of my April relief appearances. I pitched real well and requested that this song be played before I came into the game. It ended up being a really strange song – called Do It Like a Truck by Geo Da Silva ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GX1wGLZIIWY&feature=related ), but it worked, and I went undefeated and we won the Dutch First Division championship and promotion series that year.

When I came back to pitch in Almere in 2010, I had assembled some awesome songs the during the year in Australia – Stanton Warriors ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgK15PVa57U&feature=related ), Pitbull – Shut it Down ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QECUFmEPbU0 ), Cassian – Friday Night ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6v7To-BNnQQ ), Yusek – Extraball ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzrOMSzS09s&ob=av2n ), and Gareth Donaghue – Rise of Ulyesses ( which i can't find anywhere on youtube) before deciding on Temper Trap’s Sweet Disposition Evil Nine Remix ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=et3khYwUYjM ).

This year as I was coming to Hamburg I really couldn’t decide between – The Bloody Beetroots – Awesome ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5L-aXsoYT0M&playnext=1&list=PLAD904C2DD0A75CCC ), Lupe Fiasco’s I’m Beamin’ ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ge4BEdyZ8bM ), Fenech-Soler Lies (Alex Metric Remix) ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93pDRd4Ik_c ) but when Elzhi came out with a new mixtape at the end of April – I finally decided upon “Genesis” as my intro: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93pDRd4Ik_c

One quick shout out to Black Milk who is from Detroit and I've always wanted to use this - ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mFcTUZnmBA )

well, there's always next year :)