Take Me Out to the Ballgame

As the long hot summer heats up… so too do the ball-playing “boys of summer” and their hotly contested Major League Baseball pennant races. So while the teams that are still in contention all draw up their various strategies for their second-half playoff pushes, we at K-Beat thought it would be a cool idea to celebrate the ever increasing trend of the “closing pitcher” and his “pump up the volume” (and the crowd) game entrance theme song..

The “closer” is that pitching specialist who enters the game with the fiercest of looks in his eye to pitch only the last inning. Protecting his team’s marginal lead of only three runs or less, those last three outs can often be the most difficult to come by. The brand of pitcher that steps into this role is a rare breed indeed. So it is then, that often this pitcher has his own theme song to which he enters the game. The song becomes his trademark and the excitement and passion of the crowd swells in anticipation of the pitcher’s performance as the song announces his arrival and accompanies his warm-up pitches.

Our K-Beat top five MLB closers and their entrance theme songs;

1. Trevor Hoffman – San Diego Padres (the #1 all-time closer) – “Hells Bells” by AC/DC

2. Billy Wagner – New York Mets – “Enter Sandman” by Metallica

3. Eric Gagne – Texas Rangers – “Welcome to the Jungle” by Guns and Roses

4. Tom “Flash” Gordon – Philadelphia Phillies – “Flash Gordon’s Theme” by Queen

5. Huston Street  - Oakland A’s – “Hate Me Now” by Nas