In a recent interview on "The Tonight Show," Aaron Judge spoke about the immense pressure he feels when he has to choose his walk-up song. He said his wife, Samantha Bracksieck, gets tired of his constant indecisiveness when she has to listen to the entire playlist from which he has to choose one song that he makes.
Judge has had a meteoric rise in the last few seasons. He made his debut in 2016 for the New York Yankees and has gone on to become team captain earlier this year. After a 2022 season that saw him bag almost all possible individual records, he signed a new contract with the Yankees, extending his stay in the Bronx.
The 30-year-old is known to be a favorite among fans as they follow all the elements from his daily lifestyle. So, when Judge appeared on "The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon," fans were quickly on to it. There, the Yankees captain talked about the walk-up songs that he uses during games. When asked whether he had more than one choice for a song, he said:
"Well, this is by far the toughest decision a baseball player has to make in the offseason. I make a playlist of about 30-40 songs. I am in my car, and my wife gets mad at me."
A walk-up song is a song played in the stadium as a player walks from the on-deck circle to home plate as they prepare for their at-bat, typically lasting around 15-30 seconds. Walk-up songs can also be played for pitchers while they enter from the bullpen and warm-up.
At the start of the 2022 season, Judge's walk-up song was "Hello" by Pop Smoke. Around August, he also started using "Mo Bamba" by Shock Wes.
Aaron Judge says why picking the right song is essential
Aaron Judge didn't shy away from saying that it was "a long process" of choosing the correct song. He said that was essential, especially when fans in the stadium are trying to ignore him and the batter is trying to grab their attention.
"You have got to have something good, man," Judge said. "You're coming there, and you're ignoring me and I got to get a song to get your attention."
Jimmy Fallon also made the 2022 AL MVP listen to a song that only contained Judge's name as the lyrics. He pointed out that it could be the perfect choice to have as a walk-up song.
Regardless of what song is played before he gets to home plate, Judge will be looking to replicate his achievements from last season.