What's in a song? These current and former White Sox weigh in on their walkup songs

CHICAGO -- The boos cascaded down upon Gordon Beckham during his first at-bat as a sophomore at Georgia University. And the reaction had nothing to do with what Beckham remembers as an opening strikeout.

Georgia fans were waiting for “Your Love” by The Outfield, Beckham’s walkup song as a freshman, which they had grown to love. He changed that song as a sophomore.

“Then they played it the next at-bat or later in the game, and I hit a home run,” Beckham said. “From then on, that was my song.”

Walkup songs for hitters or walk-in songs for pitchers have become important, entertaining parts of baseball’s fabric. See “Hell’s Bells” for Trevor Hoffman or “Enter Sandman” for Mariano Rivera as prime examples.

With the White Sox returning to Chicago for a nine-game homestand starting Friday night vs. the Mariners, MLB.com talked to four current players and Beckham, who played for the White Sox from 2009-15 and works select games as a TV analyst, about their choice of music and the meaning behind the songs.

Sam Antonacci
“Crazy Train,” Ozzy Osbourne
*"Crazy, but that's how it goes*
Millions of people living as foes"

At 23, the rookie left fielder is a little young to have full appreciation for the late, great Osbourne.

“Just that song,” a smiling Antonacci said. “I don’t think I could tell you another song he wrote.”

Antonacci has featured “Crazy Train” since he was a freshman at Heartland Community College. It reminds him of more carefree days gone by on the baseball field, when it was more about fun than earning a living.

“I remember it from when I was a little kid playing,” Antonacci said. “Every time I hear it, it’s like I’m a five-year old kid playing baseball. It’s the reason behind why I picked it.

“As much of a business as this is sometimes, I’m still just a little kid playing baseball. That’s what they played on my summer team or growing up. That’s what they played in between innings. That was one of the main songs. I remember that. Just having fun.”

Andrew Benintendi
“Living in America,” James Brown
“Living in America
Hand in hand, across the nation.”

Benintendi changed his walkup song from the 2025 choice of Long Cool Woman (in a black dress) by the Hollies.

“It reminds me of going out on the river at home,” said Benintendi of last season’s walkup. “It’s good vibes.”

As a huge fan of the Rocky movies, it was easy to move on to the James Brown classic.

“Rocky IV, it’s my favorite one,” said Benintendi of the movie featuring this song. “You have the scenes in the movie with Apollo Creed coming out with his hat on.

“Every time I hear that song, I’m kind of like getting in the zone. It’s fun. I always liked that song.”

Jordan Leasure
“The Chain,” Fleetwood Mac
“I can still hear you saying
You would never break the chain (never break the chain)”

Relievers get a little longer version of walk-in songs, so the right-hander had a method behind his offseason thought process.

“You kind of want something that’s going to pump you up but also portray a message to the fans of who you are as a person, what I think,” Leasure said. “I try to find something that will pump me up, pump the fans up.”

Much like Antonacci and Benintendi, hearing Fleetwood Mac brings Leasure back to his childhood days.

“It’s a good song,” Leasure said. “It’s the type of music I grew up on. The part I have it playing, it’s one of those even when I’m sitting down and listening to it, it gets me a little fired up.”

Grant Taylor
“Free Bird,” Lynyrd Skynyrd
“If I leave here tomorrow
Would you still remember me?”

Taylor’s previous walk-in song was “Sweet Home Alabama.” So, he’s staying true to Lynyrd Skynyrd.

“Might as well keep it going,” said Taylor with a laugh.

That first song was picked for Taylor. “Free Bird,” a song still frequently yelled for at concerts, was his choice.

“We were sitting in the clubhouse, trying to think of something with a guitar solo,” Taylor said. “That kind of came up. Honestly, it’s one of my favorite songs. That song is awesome. So, it just happened.”

Gordon Beckham
“Your Love,” The Outfield
“Josie's on a vacation far away
Come around and talk it over.”

Beckham’s walkup song remains one of the most well-known among the White Sox fan base, although he hasn’t played for the team since 2015. His youngest son, Bode, even recognized it as Beckham’s when played at his recent coach-pitch baseball game for another player.

That song always was heard by Beckham when he went to downtown Athens, Ga., to visit older friends while still in high school and just stuck with him. He even got to chat with some of The Outfield during a 2009 radio interview across the pond.

“They got on and they were like, ‘Gordon, thank you for making our song, getting it back into the spotlight,’” Beckham said. “They were very thankful and complimentary, two of the three band members. So just one of those fun songs.”