Head Strong: Phillies get their game on, with the right background music

For Barack Obama, it's Ben Harper's "Better Way." Hillary Rodham Clinton relies on "You and I," by Celine Dion. John McCain identifies with "Gonna Fly Now," the theme from

Rocky

.

It's a long campaign trail with thousands of events to make and millions of votes to win. And each presidential contender relies on his or her own psych music to help spark the rally.

So, too, does the mayor of Rollinsville.

For Jimmy Rollins, its "Umma Do Me," by Rocko. Rollins is not alone in having a favored theme song. Virtually all the Phillies make that walk from the on-deck circle - or the bullpen - with a personally specified track blaring in the background.

Ensuring that J-Roll and his teammates get their game face on is the responsibility of Phillies music coordinator Mark Wyatt. He just might be the most important member of the Phillies organization whom you've never heard of.

He's the Jam Master Jay of the Fightin' Phils. The one with the biggest iPod in the room, the guy who sets the soundtrack in Citizens Bank Park when the Phils hit the field. He's similarly involved in the music coordination for the Eagles, Flyers, Sixers, Wings and Soul, but only the Phillies have individualized songs.

Think DJ, not DH.

"There is a lot more that goes on than I think people realize," Wyatt told me recently. "Pitchers, too, choose their warm-up music. If we are winning or losing, there is some psychology of what we do with crowd prompts. More than I think fans realize."

Indeed, the Philadelphia fans have come a long way from gyrating in time to "Wild Thing, I think I love you."

Wyatt, a graphic designer by day, has been doing this for 10 years. Now he's part of a 25-member crew called PhanaVision - guys with names like "Video" Dan Stephenson - that oversees and integrates replays, music and video entertainment during games.

Wyatt told me each player selects his own track. As I learned from Rollins himself during spring training in Clearwater, Fla., it's a decision no player takes lightly. As impatient with music as he is in the batter's box, Rollins told me he'll stick with a song only for a month or so before moving on.

"Me and Ryan Howard were actually thinking about coming out to the same song," Rollins told me. "I told him, 'I'm the leadoff man, so I can actually beat [you] to it,' but I don't know if I wanna do it to him. So, I've been researching, and I haven't made up my mind yet."

Researching?

By the time of the Phils' home opener on March 31, Rollins had settled on "Umma Do Me." It's not on my iPod, but when I found the lyrics online, I could see why J-Roll picked it:

You just do you

umma do me

wanna see how it's done?

then watch me do me.

Those lyrics could go a lot of ways, but here's one way for certain: The National League's Most Valuable Player for 2007 will show everyone how MVPs do - at least, he will, as soon as he gets off the disabled list, where he landed Sunday for the first time in his career.

As for Howard, the Phils' 2006 NL MVP, he has a few selections in his rotation: "Dey Know," by Shawty Lo, "The Boss," by Rick Ross, and "The Second Coming," by Juelz Santana.

As Howard lumbers toward home plate at an imposing 6 feet, 4 inches and 256 pounds, Ross spits out the lyrics: "I'm the biggest boss that you seen thus far. . . . "

Even more significant on Howard's playlist, though, might be the lyrics to Santana's "Second Coming":

If you fall, get up and try it again

If you drop, get up and try it again

We tired of being runners up

We coming up.

Fitting for a team that fought its way to a division title last year, only to lose in the playoffs. Now they're tired of being runners-up.

Not that the liner-note parallels stop there. Consider the selections of Pat Burrell, Chase Utley and Shane Victorino.

Burrell fancies "Dirty Laundry" by Don Henley:

I make my living off the evening news

Just give me something - something I can use

People love it when you lose

They love dirty laundry.

Sounds like oft-maligned left fielder's not-so-subtle dig at some of the local fair-weather faithful.

Utley fancies "Kashmir" from Led Zeppelin, an excellent, wise choice, fitting for a player wise beyond his years, the consummate student of the game (and yes, that is my classic-rock bias showing through).

Victorino has stuck with "Buffalo Soldier" by Bob Marley - and who else but the guy from Hawaii would approach the plate to trancelike Marley melodies?

Then there are the pitchers, a group Wyatt tells me is taking the whole "entrance music" phenomenon to a new level. Typical are Brett Myers and Brad Lidge, both of whom climb the mound with the heavy-metal ensemble Drowning Pool blasting in the background.

In fact, Drowning Pool is working on recording a song specifically for Myers' approach to the mound. Why? The band got the idea to record a song for Myers when it heard Lidge was also planning to take the field to either "Bodies" or "Soldiers," two of its more popular songs.

How about Jamie Moyer?

When Moyer takes the field, Wyatt usually plays "Overdrive," by Foo Fighters, not because Moyer likes them, but because Wyatt does. Just as fitting as Rollins doing Rollins or Pat Burrell airing his dirty laundry from the batter's box, the Phils' 45-year-old elder statesman has never had a song.

I guess you can't teach an old southpaw new tricks.