Step Up to the Plate

We're three games into baseball season, the Phillies are undefeated, and it's time to revive the age-old debate. If you were a baseball player, what would be your at-bat music?

You need something that's gonna rev up the crowd but also something with enough swagger and cred to make it worthwhile. And the song you choose says a lot about who you are. Here's a very funny video where Curtis Granderson struggles as he tries to pick his at-bat music for his first season as a Yankee:

If Granderson needs inspiration, he could look to his captain: During the Yankees 2009 World Series run, Derek Jeter took "Empire State of Mind" -- which was everywhere at the time and seemed like it was meant to be played at Yankee Stadium, and grand enough for a player like Jeter. Moving over to the Phils, Chase Utley comes to bat (when he's healthy) to the opening bars of Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir". Shane Victorino's unlikely selection is "Buffalo Soldier" by Bob Marley. And dare I say Carlos Ruiz has a really good one in "Turn My Swag On" by Soulja Boy (For some reason, I love the snippet of that song they play for Chooch). Here's a YouTube clip of the Phillies' at bat music from 2010:

My playing days are long in the past, but if I were stepping up to the plate, I'd play "Clash City Rockers" by the Clash.

 

It has a brash opening guitar riff that would sound great in a stadium, and it packs a punch in about 12 seconds, which is really all you have time for.

My second choice might be "Tell 'Em" by Sleigh Bells -- because nothing is as loud and aggressive as the opening guitars in that song.

So let's hear it -- what song would you play as you come to bat?