OH, I WANNA DANCE WITH SOMEBODY
Wilmer at the plate & Whitney in the air A formula for fun
WSANFRANCISCO ilmer Difo said a steady stream of Pirates teammates have been approaching him with questions. How to turn a double play? Perhaps something about position versatility, considering Difo has done everything but catch and play first base this season? No, not that.
Offensive production also hasn’t been a topic of conversation, although maybe it should be with Difo hitting .359 (14 for 39) in 15 games since rejoining the Pirates July 2, the utility man collecting three doubles, two home runs and six RBIs. Difo also has hit safely in seven of his past seven games (10 for 23, .435).
No, Difo’s teammates have had something else to ask. They want to know why in the world he uses Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)” as his walk-up song.
“A lot of them have asked me similar to you,” Difo said Tuesday in Arizona, cracking a smile while Mike Gonzalez translated. “They ask, ‘Why that song out of all songs?’ I explain the same thing I explained to you — that at the end of the day, they’re enjoying it just as much as I am. Whatever works.”
Difo’s reasoning makes sense. He said he cares a lot about which walk-up song he uses and likes to pick something that gets the crowd involved.
Sure, the song sounds corny, and it certainly doesn’t fit within the typical range of hip-hop, country, Latin music and the occasional classic rock tune. But it’s also something most everybody knows and enjoys.
“So many times you look into the crowd, and everybody is silent,” Difo said. “I like finding songs that wake everyone up. If it energizes the crowd, it’s going to energize me as a player and also us in the dugout.”
This certainly seems to accomplish that. On Monday night, Chase Field sounded like a library when Difo came up to bat in the second inning. All of a sudden, a group of Pirates fans in right field began singing Difo’s walkup song for him.
“Oh, I wanna dance with somebody
I wanna feel the heat with somebody
Yeah, I wanna dance with somebody
With somebody who loves me.” “That was hilarious,” Adam Frazier said.
Those fans weren’t alone, either. It’s become a running joke inside the Pirates dugout, as well.
“I was actually wondering the other day why he used that,” Jacob Stallings said. “I’m pretty sure he doesn’t know what the words say. I think that makes it even funnier.”
Added Ben Gamel: “You can’t help but sing along.”
The process of choosing walk-up music has always fascinated me. I went with House of Pain’s “Jump Around” when I occasionally closed for our college team. I thought it would be fun and weird to do that and also sport a blonde mohawk. I also used The Grateful Dead’s “Touch of Grey” and The Who’s “Baba O’Riley” at various times.
My favorite on the Pirates is probably Chad Kuhl (Alice In Chains’ “Rooster”), followed by Clay Holmes (“Drowning Man” by Eric Church) and Sam Howard (Alabama’s “Song Of The South”). Guess I should also list David Bednar (“Renegade” by Styx) for fear of having my Yinzer card revoked.
Gamel (Kevin Gates’ “Again”) said his choice for this year was actually a recommendation from his wife. He listened to the song, and the lyrics resonated: “I gave it a shot, got a couple hits, and I’m riding it out.”
John Nogowski (Bruce Springsteen’s “Born In The USA”) wanted something he thought represented Pittsburgh. His dad is a huge Springsteen fan, so it served a dual purpose.
“It’s been working,” Nogowski said.“I’m gonna keep it.”
Frazier said he picked Diddy’s “Bad Boy For Life” this season because he saw Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowskiuse it in a victory video and figured that “it worked for them,it might work for me.”
Ginuwine’s “Pony” was Frazier’s walk-up song for years — “because it had hits in it,” the notoriously superstitious Frazier joked. He’s also experimented with “Dust on the Bottle” by David Lee Murphy and Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Born On The Bayou.”
Frazier joked that he usually thinks of something last minute, and if it works, he keeps it. Difo, however, puts more thought into it, somethingwe probably should have guessed based on his choice of WhitneyHouston for walk-up music.
“It’s a song that I enjoy,” Difo said. “Whenever I hear it, it does something to my spirit. It makes me want to dance. It makes me want to celebrate.
“So I said, ‘You know what, man? This music moves me in a way that maybe I need to start using it as a walkup.’”