With no baseball, or sports in general, we’ve had to get creative to stay entertained. With March Madness also cancelled, many folk have taken to creating tournament brackets for, well…pretty much everything — from cereal, to Star Wars characters, to Taylor Swift songs.
So now I’m getting in on the act, combining my two greatest interest — Cardinals baseball and music.
And so I give you The St. Louis Cardinals Walk-Up Song Tournament (#WalkUpSTL)
The last day or so I dug into my own memories, did several scattershot Google searches, and crowd-sourced Twitter to come up with as many songs — and the Cardinals players that have used them — as possible. Big shout out to @TheSnortingBull on Twitter who was able to provide a lot from the 1996-2006 range.
All-in-all, I ended up with 68 entrants, perfect for a 64 team bracket with 4 play-in matchups.
Most of the entrants are walk-up songs used by hitters (or starting pitchers). Some hitters have multiple songs. One song — Welcome to the Jungle — has multiple hitters. A handful are the entrance music used by various relievers.
For seeding:
I looked up the WAR that all players on the listed posted as a Cardinal, and then ranked them 1-68.
Then, I looked up the Billboard chart info for all the songs on the list — typically the Hot 100, or the next most relevant chart — and ranked them 1-68 based on their peak chart ranking. Some that didn’t chart at all ended up in the “bubble team” category and are in the Play-In round.
After ranking both, I simply took an average of the two for each player/song combo and then put them in order based on that composite rank.
It was not very scientific, but it got the more popular songs and the more prominent players in the higher seeds, and randomized the matchups.
So let’s get on with it then!
I will be conducting polls for the matchups on Twitter and Facebook and then combining the results. Seek out myself (@hes_verygood) on Twitter, The Redbird Daily on Facebook, or simply search #WalkUpSTL on either to find the polls.
When voting, don’t necessarily pick the song you like better, consider if it is a good walk-up song — does it pump up the crowd and the hitter? Does it impose the pitcher? Does it fit the hitters vibe? Those sorts of things. Or just vote however you want, it’s all for fun.
This post will be updated with full round results and updated bracket.
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Below are the 4 Regions — Musial, Smith, Hornsby, & Gibson — and the full listing of Player/Song/Artist, for research purposes.
| MUSIAL REGION | HORNSBY REGION | ||||
| PLAYER | SONG | ARTIST | PLAYER | SONG | ARTIST |
| (1)Wainwright, Adam | Song of the South | Alabama | (1)Wong, Kolten | Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae) | Silento |
| (2)Edmonds, Jim | Errtime | Nelly | (2)Molina, Yadier | Gasolina | Daddy Yankee |
| (3)Lynn, Lance | Country Boy Can Survive | Hank Williams, Jr. | (3)Edmonds, Jim | Alive | Pearl Jam |
| (4)Clayton, Royce | California Love | Tupac | (4)Beltran, Carlos | Welcome to the Jungle | Guns n Roses |
| (5)Jordan, Brian | We Be Clubbin’ | Ice Cube | (5)Piscotty, Stephen | Danger Zone | Kenny Loggins |
| (6)Pujols, Albert | Go Buck | Flame | (6)Rolen, Scott | Rollin‘ | Limp Bizkit |
| (7)Freese, David | Stinkfist | Tool | (7)Diaz, Aledmys | Believer | Imagine Dragons |
| (8)Fowler, Dexter | Congratulations | Post Malone | (8)Fowler, Dexter | Jumpman | Drake |
| (9)DeJong, Paul | You’ve Got Another Thing Coming | Judas Priest | (9)Clark, Will | The Thrill Is Gone | B.B. King |
| (10)Carpenter, Matt | Loud and Heavy | Cody Jinks | (10)Gyorko, Jedd | Crazy Town | Jason Aldean |
| (11)Rosenthal, Trevor | Hail to the King | Avenged Sevenfold | (11)Holliday, Matt | Crank It Up | Wrestling Heros |
| (12)McGee, Willie | Theme From “The Natural” | Randy Newman | (12)Berkman, Lance | God’s Gonna Cut You Down | Johnny Cash |
| (13)Rasmus, Colby | D.A.N.C.E. | Justice | (13)Mikolas, Miles | When The Levee Breaks | Led Zeppelin |
| (14)Duncan, Chris | Swing | Trace Adkins | (14)Broxton, Jonathan | Iron Man | Black Sabbath |
| (15)Goldschmidt, Paul | We Went | Randy Houser | (15)Bourjos, Peter | Still D.R.E. | Dr. Dre |
| (16)Pham, Tommy | Don’t Take Days Off | Nipsey Hussle | (16)Davis, Eric | Ruff Ryders Anthem | DMX |
| (17)Wong, Kolten | I Don’t Wanna Wait | SOJA | (17)Moss, Brandon | Can’t Stop Rock N Roll | AC/DC |
| SMITH REGION | GIBSON REGION | ||||
| PLAYER | SONG | ARTIST | PLAYER | SONG | ARTIST |
| (1)McGwire, Mark | Welcome to the Jungle | Guns n Roses | (1)Carpenter, Matt | Hurricane | Band of Heathens |
| (2)Lankford, Ray | Southern Hospitality | Ludacris | (2)Lankford, Ray | Let Me Clear My Throat | DJ Kool |
| (3)Holliday, Matt | Chicken Fried | Zac Brown Band | (3)DeSheilds, DeLino | My Lovin’ (You’re Never Gonna Get It) | en Vogue |
| (4)Grichuk, Randal | This is How We Roll | Florida Georgia Line | (4)Gant, Ron | Keep Their Heads Ringin’ | Dr. Dre |
| (5)Freese, David | Even Flow | Pearl Jam | (5)Matheny, Mike | Sweet Child o Mine | Guns n Roses |
| (6)Gaetti, Gary | Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man | Bob Seger | (6)Ludwick, Ryan | Brass Monkey | Beastie Boys |
| (7)Reyes, Alex/Wong | No Problem | Chance the Rapper | (7)Brebbia, John | Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go | Wham! |
| (8)Schumaker, Skip | The Stroke | Billy Squier | (8)Eckstein, David | Number One Spot | Ludacris |
| (9)Carpenter, Matt | Long Hot Summer Day | Turnpike Troubadours | (9)Gyorko, Jedd | Dirt on My Boots | Jon Pardi |
| (10)Jay, Jon | Public Service Announcement | Jay-Z | (10)Bader, Harrison | Pills and Automobiles | Chris Brown |
| (11)Motte, Jason | Brain Stew | Green Day | (11)Grichuk, Randal | Here Comes the Boom | Nelly |
| (12)Walker, Larry | Crazy Train | Ozzy Osbourne | (12)Edman, Tommy | Feelin’ Good | Nina Simone |
| (13)Kozma, Pete | Kickstart My Heart | Motley Crue | (13)Reynolds, Mark | Barefoot Bluejean Night | Jake Owen |
| (14)Ankiel, Rick | Last Resort | Papa Roach | (14)Mabry, John | Heartbreaker | Led Zeppelin |
| (15)Young, Dmitri | If I Ruled the World | NAS | (15)Kozma, Pete | The Ocean | Led Zeppelin |
| (16)Reyes, Anthony | Bat Country | Avenged Sevenfold | (16)Pujols, Albert | 5 Seconds | Canton Jones |
| (17)Adams, Matt | Voices | Rev Theory | (17)Cruz, Tony | Chest Thump from “Wolf of Wall Street” | |
And then we have the bracket! (Updated daily as results post)
Print it out and fill in your predictions if you want to!
Play-In Results:
Musial Region – Pham 10, Wong (SOJA) 4
Smith Region – An. Reyes 8, Adams 7
Hornsby Region – Davis 5, Moss 10
Gibson Region – Pujols (Jones) 3, Cruz 13
MUSIAL REGION – Round 1:
(1) Wainwright – 21, (16) Pham – 6
(2) Edmonds – 20, (15) Goldschmidt – 8
(3) Lynn – 13, (14) Duncan – 15
(4) Clayton – 21, (13) Rasmus – 9
(5) Jordan – 10, (12) McGee – 16
(6) Pujols (Flame) – 10, (11) Rosenthal – 16
(7) Freese (Tool) – 14, (10) Carpenter (Jinks) – 11
(8) Fowler (Post) – 10, (9) DeJong – 19
SMITH REGION – Round 1:
(1) McGwire – 30, (16) An. Reyes – 7
(2) Lankford (Ludacris) – 23, (15) Young – 8
(3) Holliday (Chicken) – 19, (14) Ankiel – 14
(4) Grichuk (FGL) – 11, (13) Kozma (Crue) – 23
(5) Freese (Pearl) – 12, (12) Walker – 26
(6) Gaetti – 12, (11) Motte – 25
(7) Wong/Reyes – 15, (10) Jay – 18
(8) Schumaker – 22, (9) Carpenter – 23
HORNSBY REGION – Round 1:
(1) Wong (Nae Nae) – 14, (17) Moss – 11
(2) Molina – 16, (15) Bourjos – 7
(3) Edmonds (Alive) – 17, (14) Broxton – 6
(4) Beltran – 14, (13) Mikolas – 9
(5) Piscotty – 14, (12) Berkman – 12
(6) Rolen – 21, (11) Holliday – 6
(7) Diaz – 11, (10) Gyorko (Aldean) – 12
(8) Fowler (Drake) – 8, (9) Clark – 18
GIBSON REGION – Round 1:
(1) Carpenter (Heathens) – 18, (17) Cruz – 15
(2) Lankford (Throat) – 23, (15) Kozma (Ocean) – 12
(3) DeShields – 14, (14) Mabry – 19
(4) Gant – 19, (13) Reynolds – 14
(5) Matheny – 22, (12) Edman – 14
(6) Ludwick – 22, (11) Grichuk (Nelly) – 19
(7) Brebbia – 32, (10) Bader – 4
(8) Eckstein – 25, (9) Gyorko (Pardi) – 12
MUSIAL REGION – Round 2:
(1) Wainwright – 19, (9) DeJong – 8
(12) McGee – 14, (4) Clayton – 10
(11) Rosenthal – 10, (14) Duncan – 13
(7) Freese – 11, (2) Edmonds (Nelly) – 13
SMITH REGION – Round 2:
(1) McGwire – 20, (9) Carpenter – 14
(2) Lankford (Ludacris) 21, (10) Jay – 16
(3) Holliday (Chicken) – 20, (11) Motte – 11
(12) Walker – 22, (13) Kozma (Crue) – 10
HORNSBY REGION – Round 2:
(1) Wong (Nae Nae) – 21, (9) W. Clark – 17
(2) Molina – 29, (10) Gyorko (Aldean) – 13
(3) Edmonds (Alive) – 18, (6) Rolen – 24
(4) Beltran – 27, (5) Piscotty – 18
GIBSON REGION – Round 2:
(1) Carpenter (Heathens) – 11, (8) Eckstein – 16
(2) Lankford (Kool) – 17, (7) Brebbia – 13
(4) R. Gant – 16, (5) Matheny – 10
(6) Ludwick – 18, (14) Mabry – 10
SWEET 16:
Musial: (1) Wainwright – 29, (12) McGee – 21
Musial: (2) Edmonds (Nelly) – 37, (14) Duncan – 21
Smith: (1) McGwire – 32, (12) Walker – 25
Smith: (2) Lankford (Ludacris) – 24, (3) Holliday (Chicken) – 37
Hornsby: (1) Wong (Nae Nae) – 15, (4) Beltran – 15 tie goes to higher seed
Hornsby: (2) Molina – 12, (6) Rolen – 20
Gibson: (2) Lankford (Kool) – 15, (6) Ludwick – 20
Gibson: (4) R. Gant – 8, (8) Eckstein – 19
ELITE EIGHT:
Musial: (1) Wainwright – 22, (2) Edmonds (Nelly) – 14
Smith: (1) McGwire – 21, (3) Holliday (Chicken) – 15
Hornsby: (1) Wong (Nae Nae) – 7, (6) Rolen – 28
Gibson: (6) Ludwick – 17, (8) Eckstein – 20
FINAL FOUR:
Musial/Smith: (1) Wainwright – 23, (1) McGwire – 20
Hornsby/Gibson: (6) Rolen – 27, (8) Eckstein – 11
CHAMPIONSHIP:
(1) Adam Wainwright – 40, (6) Rolen – 32
