Some of your favorite Royals play ‘name that tune’ with walk-up songs

One of the many perks of being a big-league baseball player is getting to choose your “walk-up” song; that’s the few bars of music played as a hitter walks from the on-deck circle to the plate.

So when I heard Lucas Duda walk up to “All Along the Watchtower” by Jimi Hendrix, I wondered how the Royals first baseman had picked a song recorded 18 years before he was born.

Duda said it was a tribute to his dad.

When Lucas was a kid his father would drive him to practices and games, and that’s the type of music that would be playing in the car. Walking up to “All Along the Watchtower” is a tribute to the man who helped Duda get to the big leagues.

Duda’s story got me thinking about other Royals players and their walk-up music: What songs were they using, and why had they picked them?

I talked to Drew Butera next, and he said he was walking up to Cardi B, but I thought he said Cardi-Beats. Once we got that straightened out, I admitted I hadn’t paid much attention to popular music since the Beatles broke up and Drew said, “It shows.”

When I asked about a specific song, Drew said he was walking up to “I Like It” and when I asked why, Drew said, “I like it.”

Next, I talked to Mike Moustakas (who has since been traded by the Royals to the Milawaukee Brewers). Moose said he was walking up to Kendrick Lamar and said he switched out songs every once in a while just to hear something different.

I wondered how you could get tired of a song when you only hear the first 20 seconds or so, but Whit Merrifield supplied the answer.

Merrifield said he was walking up to LOCASH, a country-and-western duo that used to be known as the LoCash Cowboys. Some players get superstitious about their walk-up songs, but Whit said he’ll switch out songs whenever he’s ready to hear something new.

Whit pointed out that whatever walk-up music a player chooses he has to hear it four times a night. Last season Whit had 630 plate appearances, so he’s got a point.

Hunter Dozier said his walk-up song was “Strong Tower” by Kutless, a Christian rock group, and there’s a story behind that.

According to the King James Version of the Bible, Proverbs 18:10 says: “The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.”

Hunter said walking up to “Strong Tower” reminds him of his faith and whatever he does in the big leagues, “It’s all for Him.”

When big-league players order gloves they can have their names embroidered along the thumb and if you get a good look at Dozier’s first baseman’s mitt or third baseman’s glove you’ll see the phrase “All For Him” instead of Hunter’s name.

Then I asked Adalberto Mondesi about his walk-up song, but my limited Spanish proved to be a problem. I can order a beer or ask where the library is located, but that’s about it.

Adalberto was extremely accommodating and spelled out the name of his song, “La Vuelta.” I tried to look up Adalberto’s song on the internet and if the videos I saw are any indication, it’s either about a bicycle race, an office worker who has a crush on the girl in the next cubicle or a guy waving a gun around on a rooftop.

Clearly, I needed help with the Latin players.

Star beat reporter Maria Torres came to my rescue and sent me a link to an MLB website that lists the players and their walk-up music.

Assuming the website is accurate:

Alcides Escobar is walking up to “Quiero Repetir” by Ozuna, Rosell Herrera is using “Si No Estas Junto A Mi” by Tercer Cielo, Jorge Bonifacio is using “Lo Que Yo Diga” by El Alfa and Salvador Perez has two songs listed, “Balenciaga” by Ozuna and “Zum Zum” by Daddy Yankee.

If any of this is incorrect it means I did a bad job transcribing what I found on the site or the player has already switched his walk-up music … and that brings us back to ballplayer superstitions.

When a player is scuffling he might change what he’s doing in an effort to change his luck. He might wear his pants longer or shorter, change batting gloves or chew a different kind of bubblegum. But when a player is hot he won’t change a thing … normally.

Alex Gordon’s current walk-up song is by Kid Ink, but when I asked him about it, Alex wanted to talk about a walk-up song he was using three years ago.

On July 7, 2015 Gordon’s walk-up song was by Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. That day the Royals played a doubleheader against the Tampa Bay Rays and Alex got seven hits.

Despite his success, the next night Gordon changed his walk-up song, went 0 for 1, tore his groin and didn’t play again until September 1.

Even now Alex doesn’t know why in the world he changed his walk-up music, but accepts that it had something to do with what happened to him: “That’s karma right there.”

So the lesson to be learned from all this is that when you’re going good don’t change a thing … and I should have paid more attention in Spanish class.