Penn baseball picks its own 'Jock Jams'

On a bright, sunny day at Meiklejohn Stadium, it is not uncommon to hear the sweet sounds of baseball.

The smacking sound of the fastball as it hits the catcher’s mitt, the ping of the aluminum bats, and, of course, the occasional ditty from Miley Cyrus.

While that last one may seem a bit far-fetched, it is just one of an eclectic mix of songs the baseball team uses as their “walk-up” songs.

As each batter digs in at the plate, or each pitcher enters the game, a segment of a song (usually the introduction) will be played as per the player’s request.

Not surprisingly, there have been the good, the bad and the ugly among the song choices.

Junior Will Davis remembered one player from Rollins College who had a particularly eye-raising selection.

“It was Chicken Noodle Soup with a Soda on the Side,” Davis said. “[That song] was cool for about a week like two summers ago.”

As for Davis himself, the catcher was undoubtedly influenced by the rap scene in his hometown, Atlanta. He singled out Outkast’s “Intro” from the album Speakerboxxx and “123 Goodie” by Goodie Mob as two of his choices.

“I’ve just been a big Outkast fan growing up, so I thought I could do them some homage by choosing … their songs,” he added.

Davis has also been keen on getting some of his teammates to adopt his taste in music. He leads the team in home runs (7) and thinks that for at least one player, listening to Outkast could help with the long ball.

“One person I’ve talked to mostly is Mike Mariano,” Davis said. “I think he’s coming around a little bit. I introduced him to Outkast the other week, and he had two home runs this weekend.

“I think as soon as he makes the jump from just listening to Outkast to making it his walk-up music, he’ll feel a lot more success at the plate.”

Davis, apparently the team’s music guru, has also played a role in one of shortstop Derek Vigoa’s song choices — “Armada Latina” by Cypress Hill featuring Pitbull and Marc Anthony.

Davis said he was procrastinating in Van Pelt Library when he came upon the Cuban-themed song. He subsequently posted it on Vigoa’s Facebook wall, and Vigoa immediately took a liking to it.

Also, the fact that Vigoa, along with fellow Miami natives freshman Emilio Pastor and junior Adrian Lorenzo, all chose songs with a Latin vibe is by no means coincidental.

“I know we’re all proud of our heritage, our Cuban culture, and it’s cool to bring it up here,” Vigoa said. “It’s good to bring a little piece of home back to the North.”

But while some of the song choices may have important meaning, others are just for kicks.

The upperclassmen on the team, for example, chose “Party in the USA” by Miley Cyrus for freshman Spencer Branigan.

“[The song] isn’t very fitting for him,” Davis said of the 6-foot-5 Branigan. “To have a big guy come up to the plate with a very unintimidating song is pretty funny.”

One can only wonder why Branigan no longer uses that song, but he has since moved on to “California Love” by Tupac and Dr. Dre — perhaps an homage to his hometown, Ross, Calif. — along with Eminem’s “‘Till I Collapse.”

Ultimately, then, each song reflects the personality of the players.

However, at the end of a win at Meiklejohn, one song unites them all: “All the Way Turnt Up” by Travis Porter, Roscoe Dash and YT.

The song, which Vigoa claimed was passed along by the Ivy champion football team (perhaps via former quarterback Kyle Olson), is about as ridiculous as the title suggests, but nonetheless incredibly catchy.

“Every time, after every home game, if we won the game, we turned it up,” Vigoa said. “We put that song real loud after the game and it gets all the guys fired up.”

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