No More Denying It: Emmanuel Clase Needs A Walkout Song

It’s a crisp October Sunday at old Yankee Field. The Bronx Bombers are up by just one score in the top of the ninth, and you hear Metallica’s, ‘Enter Sandman’ bouncing through the old New York walls. 

Every fan is on the edge of their seat, and everyone in attendance knows how this will end. In just ten pitches, Mariano Rivera sits down the opponent 1-2-3 with a heavy dose of unhittable cutters. 

 I don’t want to compare Emmanuel Clase to the greatest closer of all time, but it would be odd to ignore their apparent similarities. Currently, Clase is seventh in all relievers for ERA and third in WAR. 

He is one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball, and he gets the job done with a cutter that’s graded as one of the best pitches in baseball. With all of those similarities, what’s the difference between the two? 

A great walkout song. (And a complete Hall of Fame career, but let’s ignore that small detail.)

Elite Closers With Walkout Songs

The two pitchers above Clase in the WAR leaderboards have electric walkout songs. Edwin Diaz has become a household name for his entrance to Timmy Trumpet’s ‘Narco’.

And more recently, St. Louis’ Ryan Helsley started to come out to AC/DC’s ‘Hells Bells’.

I think Helsley has the better intro out of the two, as the red LEDs look unreal in a blacked-out Busch Stadium. However, his walkout song is a copy of Padres legend Trevor Hoffman’s, so that loses some points. 

Why Is Clase Still Without One?

The Guardians need to come up with something for Clase, and they have the easiest fix out there. Charlie Sheen’s final entrance in Major League to ‘Wild Thing’ would be unmatched across baseball. James Karinchak used the song before, but it really should go to the best player coming out of Cleveland’s bullpen. 

Cleveland fans will always get excited when they hear ‘Wild Thing’, but you need a player with some energy to make it really work. Clase’s got the stuff, he’s got the swagger, and he always brings the energy.

Cleveland, it’s time to figure it out. This team needs everything possible to finish out this season, and an electric walkout song to hype up the crowd down the stretch would go miles.