WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – O say, can you sing? In the case of Astros catching prospect Luke Berryhill, the answer is an emphatic, “Yes.”
Berryhill, an aspiring country music singer and songwriter, grabbed a microphone and sang the national anthem prior to Saturday’s Grapefruit League game between the Astros and Cardinals to the delight of his teammates and the crowd at Ballpark of the Palm Beaches. Berryhill got a fist bump from Astros manager Dusty Baker and high-fived his teammates in the dugout as if he’d hit a home run.
“It’s cool to show up in front of your teammates and stuff, especially the big league guys, try to get their respect a little bit,” Berryhill said.
Berryhill said just prior to taking the field he wasn’t nervous -- probably because he’s sung the anthem before games in the Minor Leagues. He sang it twice last year at Double-A Corpus Christi and once previously at High-A Asheville and Single-A Fayetteville.
“This is definitely the top one I’ve done,” said Berryhill, who spent most of last season at Corpus Christi, slashing .256/.380/.409 with 12 homers and 60 RBIs.
And Berryhill’s teammates are familiar with his talent. Last week, he played and sang Cody Johnson’s “Dance Her Home” in the clubhouse. In fact, Alex Bregman took a video of Berryhill’s performance and sent it to Johnson, who is a friend of Bregman. Berryhill has paid gigs at bars and breweries in northern Atlanta in the offseason.
“I like meeting people and it gives me something to do and keeps me busy instead of sitting around after my training is done," he said.
Berryhill (no relation to former big league catcher Damon Berryhill) grew up around country music. His father, Larry, was a professional singer in the 1980s and ‘90s and had all kinds of bands -- blues, Southern rock and country. He played shows around Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee. A young Luke would tag along and essentially serve as the roadie and help with the equipment.
Berryhill taught himself how to play guitar as a freshman in college -- he started at Georgia Southern and spent a year at Walters State Community College before transferring to the University of South Carolina -- by watching YouTube. It took him six months before he could sing and play at the same time.
Berryhill, 24, has dreams to not only reach the Major Leagues, but to also reach the Grand Ole Opry Stage. He’s written a few of his songs and last offseason went to Nashville to work with professional writers and musicians at Banner Music, a publishing company.
“Actually, they’re going to release [the songs] throughout the season, maybe starting in a month or two for the first one and every two months after that,” he said. “It’s a lot of work. You get into the studio and I think we spent four or five hours on all three songs. You get in there with a band, everything. It was a lot of fun, but a lot of work.”
Berryhill isn’t the first player to sing the anthem at Ballpark of the Palm Beaches this week. Rangers pitcher Martín Pérez sang the Venezuelan national anthem prior to Wednesday’s exhibition between Venezuela and the Astros. Berryhill said the Star-Spangled Banner isn’t an easy song to sing, but he made it look easy.
“Really, the biggest thing is starting out in the right key,” he said. “Sometimes, people who are inexperienced at it will start a little bit higher and they’ve got to keep that same key and towards the end, it might be too high for them. Or they’ll start lower and it’s too low. You need to start in your wheelhouse and keep the same cadence. Some people speed up or slow down too much. You’ve got to try to keep everything consistent.”