“Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go,” the 1984 hit from British duo Wham!, makes regular appearances on ballpark soundtracks.
Minor league stadium DJs regularly use the upbeat track when opposing hitters come to the plate, rotating it with the likes of “Barbie Girl” and the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse theme song.
It’s no prank when San Francisco Giants reliever John Brebbia enters, though. He’s run out from the bullpen to the chart-topper since 2012, when he played for the Single-A Charleston RiverDogs.
“Our radio guy said, ‘Hey, John, I got a great walkout for you,’ so I gave it a shot,” Brebbia said. “I got a kick out of it, and I just kept it ever since.”
Most pitchers enter to some sort of rap, country, metal or reggaeton song. Closer Camilo Doval takes the mound to “Bailar,” a track by Mexican American DJ Deorro and Puerto Rican singer Elvis Crespo, while lefty Scott Alexander jogs in from the bullpen to Snoop Dogg’s “Who Am I.”
Brebbia, however, takes a different approach.
“For whatever reason, music doesn’t change how I feel,” the Massachusetts native said. “There’s not gonna be a song that gets me pumped up to pitch. I got a kick out of it because it’s just so different.”
Most pitchers are creatures of habit. Former Giant Dominic Leone gave up a home run in a 2022 game against the New York Mets after his normal entrance music, “(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)” was eschewed for Frank Sinatra’s “Strangers in the Night,” the song that goes along with the Kiss Cam at Oracle Park. He mentioned it in the clubhouse after the game, and during the next homestand, the Kiss Cam was moved from the top of the seventh inning to the bottom of the sixth, giving the music to opposing pitchers instead.