This summer we went on an epic baseball trip across America to visit 11 baseball stadiums and complete a baseball bucket list with Windows Phone. Along the way we heard plenty of player at bat music. Some players had pump up jams while others had funny songs to get the crowds attention. We used the HTC Titan II to Shazam plenty of the songs but there were several times during the trip that John, Anthony and myself said that it would be cool if there was a website that catalogues every MLB player at bat songs.
I’m glad to know that we weren’t the only people in America to have this conversation because just this week Austin Hutchison, a student at THE Ohio State University, dropped us a line regarding a baseball website called MLBplatemusic.com he and two friends, Mike (Akron, OH, junior finance major), and Kathryn (senior, Apple Valley, Minnessota, dental hygiene major), are working on that will allow fans to find the plate music to all of your favorite MLB players.
We decided to talk to these college entrepreneurs about how the site got started, where it is headed and the trends in MLB at bat music.
Visit MLB Plate Music
How did you get the idea for the website?
A: During the summer we were watching a Pirates game and wondered if there was a website where you could find out what music was playing as guys were coming up to bat. Turns out there wasn’t, so we set out to build it.
What is your favorite MLB stadium?
A: I want to say Wrigley field, simply because of the history there in Chicago, but they are they only team in the MLB that doesn’t play walk up music! They’ve continued the tradition of having an organist play. Outside of that, despite being a Reds fan I do like PNC field. The Pirates also have an amazing playlist of music. McCutchen has used both Childish Gambino and Ellie Goulding this year, which is awesome.
Which 5 players that the most unlikely songs in MLB?
Miguel Montero – Arizona Diamondbacks
El Mudo – “Chacarron Macarron”
A: Chacarron is just such an absurd song I can’t believe any player has it as their walk up music. He has to have a great sense of humor.
Bryce Harper – Washington Nationals
Justin Bieber – “Boyfriend”
A: I think Bryce has inspired some goofy songs in the clubhouse. He’s come up to the play with Boyfriend by Justin Bieber a few times. Ryan Mattheus is coming out to Firework by Katy Perry these days.
Ichiro Suzuki – New York Yankees
LMFAO – “Party Rock Anthem”
A: I don’t know if I ever pictured Ichiro as a “Party Rocker” but there is something I love about him coming to the plate listening to LMFAO.
Matt-Treanor – Los Angeles Dodgers
The A-Team theme song
A: There are a few players using TV show themes as a walk up tune, but I have to give the A-Team a shout out here.
Todd Frazier – Cincinnati Reds
Frank Sinatra’s Greatest Hits
A: You have to like a young guy like Todd picking Frank Sinatra classics for his music, very unique pick from him.
Which 5 songs are most popular?
A. We’re working on providing real-time data directly on the site but with the information we have, the top 5 most popular songs are:
Pitbull – “International Love”
Jason Aldean – “My Kinda Party”
Jay Z & Kanye West – “Ni**as In Paris”
Flo Rida – “Good Feeling”
Don Omar – “Danza Kuduro”
How do you keep the site updated and how current is the music?
A. We scour Twitter, online forums, and blogs to find the most up-to-date information we can. It’s not perfect, but
it’s the best we can do. We’re always looking for dedicated fans to help out by submitting songs. The hope is that
the site is a collaborative project and baseball fans work together to keep it as accurate as possible.
Would you consider archiving players songs so we can see their song history?
A. Absolutely. Walk up songs are such an interesting piece of baseball culture, and we’re trying to document it.
The only limit we have is the information available to us, so we just have to keep digging to find the songs with
the help of baseball fans everywhere.
