What are some good songs about baseball?
June 26, 2009 1:35 PM Subscribe
What are some good songs about baseball?
Old/new/whatever. Link to YouTube (or other player) if possible!
Old/new/whatever. Link to YouTube (or other player) if possible!
Joe DiMaggio Done It Again - Woody Guthrie by way of Billy Bragg and Wilco. Lyrics.
posted by o0dano0o at 1:40 PM on June 26, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by o0dano0o at 1:40 PM on June 26, 2009 [1 favorite]
Fear Strikes Out - Royal Trux
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 1:43 PM on June 26, 2009
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 1:43 PM on June 26, 2009
One that seems to always pop up is Kenny Rogers, "The Greatest." They made a commercial using the similar theme.
posted by CancerMan at 1:45 PM on June 26, 2009
posted by CancerMan at 1:45 PM on June 26, 2009
Alabama's Cheap Seats is a great ode to minor league baseball.
posted by paulsc at 1:49 PM on June 26, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by paulsc at 1:49 PM on June 26, 2009 [1 favorite]
Here you go. These are songs from Ken Burns's Baseball documentary, very highly recommended. Netflix has it.
posted by halogen at 1:50 PM on June 26, 2009
posted by halogen at 1:50 PM on June 26, 2009
"You've got to have heart" and" Shoeless Joe from Hannibal Mo" from Damn Yankees
posted by Gungho at 1:53 PM on June 26, 2009
posted by Gungho at 1:53 PM on June 26, 2009
Seconding "You Gotta Have Heart" and Centerfield by John Fogerty. Bob Dylan did a baseball episode on Theme Time Radio Hour that includes tons of great songs about baseball.
posted by mattbucher at 1:56 PM on June 26, 2009
posted by mattbucher at 1:56 PM on June 26, 2009
Kenny Rogers: The Greatest
This was something of a comeback record for Kenny in 1999; it only reached #26 on the country chart, but the last time he'd even *charted* before that had been 1991. It gained some attention for its confident structure, pacing, and "lesson" at its core.
A subsequent single on the same album, Buy Me A Rose, would later reach #1 Country, #40 Pop, although he wasn't able to maintain that momentum beyond that one song... because he's like, y'know, old.
Alabama: Cheap Seats
Good song by a great band, though it was oddly the least successful single released for its album. I grew up where there weren't even any minor league teams, but Alabama evoke the atmosphere so well that it didn't bloody matter; I still loved it the first time I heard it.
Trace Adkins: Swing
The *video* is baseball-centric, and the central metaphor is a "strike-out," but the song itself is about pickup lines... and I bloody hate it.
posted by The Confessor at 2:01 PM on June 26, 2009
This was something of a comeback record for Kenny in 1999; it only reached #26 on the country chart, but the last time he'd even *charted* before that had been 1991. It gained some attention for its confident structure, pacing, and "lesson" at its core.
A subsequent single on the same album, Buy Me A Rose, would later reach #1 Country, #40 Pop, although he wasn't able to maintain that momentum beyond that one song... because he's like, y'know, old.
Alabama: Cheap Seats
Good song by a great band, though it was oddly the least successful single released for its album. I grew up where there weren't even any minor league teams, but Alabama evoke the atmosphere so well that it didn't bloody matter; I still loved it the first time I heard it.
Trace Adkins: Swing
The *video* is baseball-centric, and the central metaphor is a "strike-out," but the song itself is about pickup lines... and I bloody hate it.
posted by The Confessor at 2:01 PM on June 26, 2009
What a Game from the musical Ragtime.
I hope that link works - can't currently get to youtube.
posted by philotes at 2:02 PM on June 26, 2009
I hope that link works - can't currently get to youtube.
posted by philotes at 2:02 PM on June 26, 2009
Talkin' Softball from the Simpsons. Not necessarily baseball, but pretty close, and it's loaded with references to major leaguers.
posted by Team of Scientists at 2:05 PM on June 26, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by Team of Scientists at 2:05 PM on June 26, 2009 [1 favorite]
Note that the Simpsons song is a parody of Talkin' Baseball. (wiki)
posted by ALongDecember at 2:12 PM on June 26, 2009
posted by ALongDecember at 2:12 PM on June 26, 2009
Also, Piazza, New York Catcher by Belle and Sebastian uses baseball to provide some background to the lyrics, though it's not directly about baseball. I can't find a youtube video of it that isn't some sad college kid singing into a webcam, so here is a stream off of the Juno soundtrack.
posted by Team of Scientists at 2:21 PM on June 26, 2009
posted by Team of Scientists at 2:21 PM on June 26, 2009
Night Game from Paul Simon's Still Crazy After All These Years
posted by bonobothegreat at 2:22 PM on June 26, 2009
posted by bonobothegreat at 2:22 PM on June 26, 2009
Paradise By the Dashboard Light by Meat Loaf and Ellen Foley.
(The Phil Rizzuto bit starts at 3:34)
posted by gyusan at 2:26 PM on June 26, 2009 [1 favorite]
(The Phil Rizzuto bit starts at 3:34)
posted by gyusan at 2:26 PM on June 26, 2009 [1 favorite]
Chuck Brodsky's album The Baseball Ballads. Lyrics are here.
posted by Xurando at 2:36 PM on June 26, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by Xurando at 2:36 PM on June 26, 2009 [1 favorite]
"Walter Johnson" by Jonathan Richman. Hey, and isn't there an Ultramagnetic MCs track called "Baseball"?
posted by chrchr at 3:05 PM on June 26, 2009
posted by chrchr at 3:05 PM on June 26, 2009
"Michigan and Trumbull" by The Original Brothers and Sisters of Love. Good song, but I can't find any videos online.
posted by Karlos the Jackal at 3:07 PM on June 26, 2009
posted by Karlos the Jackal at 3:07 PM on June 26, 2009
Glory Days by Bruce Springsteen is not about baseball, per se, but includes a verse about meeting an old friend that used to be a great baseball player, that never escaped the small town.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 3:58 PM on June 26, 2009
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 3:58 PM on June 26, 2009
And I guarantee that I am the ONLY MeFi that has ever heard of the Van Lingle Mungo.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 4:00 PM on June 26, 2009
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 4:00 PM on June 26, 2009
Dave Frishberg's song "Matty" is a tribute to Christy Mathewson.
posted by Ranucci at 4:34 PM on June 26, 2009
posted by Ranucci at 4:34 PM on June 26, 2009
Sorry to burst your bubble Cool Papa Bell, but I've heard it. Then again I'm a card carrying member of SABR.
The Baseball Project is an indie rock side project from Steve Wynn (Dream Syndicate), Peter Buck (REM), and Scott McCaughey (The Minus 5). Their first album Frozen Ropes and Dying Quails. The standout tracks for me are "The Death of Big Ed Delahanty", and "Harvey Haddix".
posted by nulledge at 4:39 PM on June 26, 2009
The Baseball Project is an indie rock side project from Steve Wynn (Dream Syndicate), Peter Buck (REM), and Scott McCaughey (The Minus 5). Their first album Frozen Ropes and Dying Quails. The standout tracks for me are "The Death of Big Ed Delahanty", and "Harvey Haddix".
posted by nulledge at 4:39 PM on June 26, 2009
Chuck Berry, "Brown Eyed Handsome Man" (I believe it was originally "brown skinned handsome man" and referred to Jackie Robinson).
posted by kirkaracha at 4:53 PM on June 26, 2009
posted by kirkaracha at 4:53 PM on June 26, 2009
Claire Hamill's Baseball Blues. And her and Englishwoman at that!
posted by IndigoJones at 5:20 PM on June 26, 2009
posted by IndigoJones at 5:20 PM on June 26, 2009
The Mountain Goats - Cubs In Five
and the chicago cubs will beat every team in the league
and the tampa bay bucs will make it the way to january
and i will love you again
posted by saul wright at 6:07 PM on June 26, 2009
and the chicago cubs will beat every team in the league
and the tampa bay bucs will make it the way to january
and i will love you again
posted by saul wright at 6:07 PM on June 26, 2009
Tom Henke was a late-inning reliever with the Toronto Blue Jays in the eighties nicknamed Terminator. More a novelty song than a great song. (I haven't listened to the .mp3 from this blog.)
posted by philfromhavelock at 7:18 PM on June 26, 2009
posted by philfromhavelock at 7:18 PM on June 26, 2009
There's some good (and some very bad) stuff to listen to here. My favorite is The Umpire, sung by Phil Rizzuto, Tommy Henrich, Ralph Branca, and Roy Campanella -- it starts at about 10:32.
It looks like the '69 Mets recorded an album, which can be heard here. Track 10 is kind of funny.
Here's a list of songs from the Library of Congress. There are no recordings that I've found, but there is sheet music.
posted by Balonious Assault at 8:31 PM on June 26, 2009
It looks like the '69 Mets recorded an album, which can be heard here. Track 10 is kind of funny.
Here's a list of songs from the Library of Congress. There are no recordings that I've found, but there is sheet music.
posted by Balonious Assault at 8:31 PM on June 26, 2009
Nthing Chuck Brodsky. This is an in-studio video of him talking about the story behind, and singing, "Letters in the Dirt" about Richie Allen.
posted by Lexica at 10:57 AM on June 27, 2009
posted by Lexica at 10:57 AM on June 27, 2009
When I was in elementary school we had a unit in music class that used songs about baseball. Everything we listened to came off of this album.
posted by emmling at 11:53 AM on June 27, 2009
posted by emmling at 11:53 AM on June 27, 2009
Talkin ' Softball is a version of Talkin' Baseball that Cashman rewrote for The Simpsons
posted by ActingTheGoat at 8:31 AM on June 28, 2009
posted by ActingTheGoat at 8:31 AM on June 28, 2009
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Floydd at 1:37 PM on June 26, 2009