Music & More

Best Baseball Songs challenge

I'm watching the NY Yankees play the Boston Red Sox on a Saturday afternoon in April of 2022. The Yanks just took the lead on a  Stanton 2 run HR in the bottom of the 6th inning. It inspired me to play Centerfield - the song. 13 years ago I gave my opinion as to the best songs about baseball. I wonder if I missed any great baseball songs back then. I also wonder if there have been any great baseball songs recorded since 2009 began.

 

April 05, 2009

Best Baseball Songs

The excitement is building. Tonight the season opens with the defending champion Philadelphia Phillies hosting the Atlanta Braves. Tomorrow afternoon my New York Yankees take the field. Have I been watching the exhibition games or following the box scores in the paper? No. I never could get into exhibition games. Oh, I might watch for an inning. But the problem is - they don't count. I'll read a bit here and there about the progress of the team, more so as the days get closer. But now it's here. "Put me in coach, I'm ready to play today!" (Actually, just to watch).

As any serious baseball fan or John Fogerty fan knows, that quote begins the chorus to the greatest baseball song ever written. "Centerfield", penned and first performed in 1985 by Fogerty, gets the blood pumping, the adrenalin flowing with its infectious beat and perfect lyrics.  No song captures the excitement of opening day like "Centerfield"! In the first stanza he talks of the sun coming out and new grass on the field. In the second, he pays tribute to past greats Mays, Cobb and DiMaggio. The last stanza's conclusion is every little leaguer's fantasy, "Just to hit the ball and touch 'em all, a moment in the sun; (pop) It's gone and you can tell that one goodbye!". I don't know if Fogerty ever played any baseball or even likes the game but he sure captures the excitement of a new season like no one ever has. Check out the lyrics to Centerfield as well as the history and lyrics of the baseball songs to follow on www.baseball-almanac.com.

Obviously many will stick with "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" as the best baseball song ever. According to the baseball almanac just noted, the lyrics were written by Jack Norworth in 1908 with the music composed by Albert Von Tizler. Norworth changed some of the lyrics in 1927 but the famous chorus, the only part of the song I ever knew, remained the same.

Another fine song is Alabama's the "Cheap Seats" written by Marcus Hummon and Randy Sharp. The song describes a typical minor league ball town with lines like "Our ball club may be minor league but at least it's Triple-A" (like the Nashville Sounds which replaced the Long Island Ducks as my minor league team), and "We got a great pitcher, what's his name, Well, we can't even spell it" and a universal lament, "Hang ump, a blind man could have made that call".

Terry Cashman's "Talkin' Baseball" songs are familiar to many. The first in 1981 was originally called "Willie, Mickey and the Duke". Growing up in Queens, NY, in the 1950's, I recall those arguments about who was the best, Mantle, Mays or Snider. I didn't realize that Cashman wrote other versions of the song for other teams - Mets, Tigers, Cardinals, etc.

Another song on the baseball almanac list is "Catfish" written and performed by Bob Dylan and Jacques Levy. It's about former Kansas City A's, Oakland A's and Yankee pitcher, the late Hall of Famer, Jim "Catfish" Hunter. He was a favorite of mine even before he became a Yankee since I discovered in my Street and Smith's Baseball Yearbook that we were born on the same day in 1946. The song was written in 1975 and I love the lyrics. Unfortunately, I can't bear to listen to Bob Dylan attempt to sing. Hope somebody else records it some day.

"The Greatest", a Kenny Rogers song written by Don Schlitz, is about a little boy throwing up a ball and trying to hit it. It has a cute and clever twist at the end.

A song that does not appear on the baseball almanac list is "The Show" written by Jon Vezner and Don Henry in 1994. I have it sung by Vezner on his '94 cd "Who's Gonna Know". It tells of a young man's journey to "The Show" which many know from the movie "Bull Durham" is the major leagues. Like "The Greatest", it has a twist at the end.

What is your favorite baseball song? Are you ready to play?

The excitement is building. Tonight the season opens with the defending champion Philadelphia Phillies hosting the Atlanta Braves. Tomorrow afternoon my New York Yankees take the field. Have I been watching the exhibition games or following the box scores in the paper? No. I never could get into exhibition games. Oh, I might watch for an inning. But the problem is - they don't count. I'll read a bit here and there about the progress of the team, more so as the days get closer. But now it's here. "Put me in coach, I'm ready to play today!" (Actually, just to watch).

As any serious baseball fan or John Fogerty fan knows, that quote begins the chorus to the greatest baseball song ever written. "Centerfield", penned and first performed in 1985 by Fogerty, gets the blood pumping, the adrenalin flowing with its infectious beat and perfect lyrics.  No song captures the excitement of opening day like "Centerfield"! In the first stanza he talks of the sun coming out and new grass on the field. In the second, he pays tribute to past greats Mays, Cobb and DiMaggio. The last stanza's conclusion is every little leaguer's fantasy, "Just to hit the ball and touch 'em all, a moment in the sun; (pop) It's gone and you can tell that one goodbye!". I don't know if Fogerty ever played any baseball or even likes the game but he sure captures the excitement of a new season like no one ever has. Check out the lyrics to Centerfield as well as the history and lyrics of the baseball songs to follow on www.baseball-almanac.com.

Obviously many will stick with "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" as the best baseball song ever. According to the baseball almanac just noted, the lyrics were written by Jack Norworth in 1908 with the music composed by Albert Von Tizler. Norworth changed some of the lyrics in 1927 but the famous chorus, the only part of the song I ever knew, remained the same.

Another fine song is Alabama's the "Cheap Seats" written by Marcus Hummon and Randy Sharp. The song describes a typical minor league ball town with lines like "Our ball club may be minor league but at least it's Triple-A" (like the Nashville Sounds which replaced the Long Island Ducks as my minor league team), and "We got a great pitcher, what's his name, Well, we can't even spell it" and a universal lament, "Hang ump, a blind man could have made that call".

Terry Cashman's "Talkin' Baseball" songs are familiar to many. The first in 1981 was originally called "Willie, Mickey and the Duke". Growing up in Queens, NY, in the 1950's, I recall those arguments about who was the best, Mantle, Mays or Snider. I didn't realize that Cashman wrote other versions of the song for other teams - Mets, Tigers, Cardinals, etc.

Another song on the baseball almanac list is "Catfish" written and performed by Bob Dylan and Jacques Levy. It's about former Kansas City A's, Oakland A's and Yankee pitcher, the late Hall of Famer, Jim "Catfish" Hunter. He was a favorite of mine even before he became a Yankee since I discovered in my Street and Smith's Baseball Yearbook that we were born on the same day in 1946. The song was written in 1975 and I love the lyrics. Unfortunately, I can't bear to listen to Bob Dylan attempt to sing. Hope somebody else records it some day.

"The Greatest", a Kenny Rogers song written by Don Schlitz, is about a little boy throwing up a ball and trying to hit it. It has a cute and clever twist at the end.

A song that does not appear on the baseball almanac list is "The Show" written by Jon Vezner and Don Henry in 1994. I have it sung by Vezner on his '94 cd "Who's Gonna Know". It tells of a young man's journey to "The Show" which many know from the movie "Bull Durham" is the major leagues. Like "The Greatest", it has a twist at the end.

What is your favorite baseball song? Are you ready to play?

Best Baseball Songs

The excitement is building. Tonight the season opens with the defending champion Philadelphia Phillies hosting the Atlanta Braves. Tomorrow afternoon my New York Yankees take the field. Have I been watching the exhibition games or following the box scores in the paper? No. I never could get into exhibition games. Oh, I might watch for an inning. But the problem is - they don't count. I'll read a bit here and there about the progress of the team, more so as the days get closer. But now it's here. "Put me in coach, I'm ready to play today!" (Actually, just to watch).

As any serious baseball fan or John Fogerty fan knows, that quote begins the chorus to the greatest baseball song ever written. "Centerfield", penned and first performed in 1985 by Fogerty, gets the blood pumping, the adrenalin flowing with its infectious beat and perfect lyrics.  No song captures the excitement of opening day like "Centerfield"! In the first stanza he talks of the sun coming out and new grass on the field. In the second, he pays tribute to past greats Mays, Cobb and DiMaggio. The last stanza's conclusion is every little leaguer's fantasy, "Just to hit the ball and touch 'em all, a moment in the sun; (pop) It's gone and you can tell that one goodbye!". I don't know if Fogerty ever played any baseball or even likes the game but he sure captures the excitement of a new season like no one ever has. Check out the lyrics to Centerfield as well as the history and lyrics of the baseball songs to follow on www.baseball-almanac.com.

Obviously many will stick with "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" as the best baseball song ever. According to the baseball almanac just noted, the lyrics were written by Jack Norworth in 1908 with the music composed by Albert Von Tizler. Norworth changed some of the lyrics in 1927 but the famous chorus, the only part of the song I ever knew, remained the same.

Another fine song is Alabama's the "Cheap Seats" written by Marcus Hummon and Randy Sharp. The song describes a typical minor league ball town with lines like "Our ball club may be minor league but at least it's Triple-A" (like the Nashville Sounds which replaced the Long Island Ducks as my minor league team), and "We got a great pitcher, what's his name, Well, we can't even spell it" and a universal lament, "Hang ump, a blind man could have made that call".

Terry Cashman's "Talkin' Baseball" songs are familiar to many. The first in 1981 was originally called "Willie, Mickey and the Duke". Growing up in Queens, NY, in the 1950's, I recall those arguments about who was the best, Mantle, Mays or Snider. I didn't realize that Cashman wrote other versions of the song for other teams - Mets, Tigers, Cardinals, etc.

Another song on the baseball almanac list is "Catfish" written and performed by Bob Dylan and Jacques Levy. It's about former Kansas City A's, Oakland A's and Yankee pitcher, the late Hall of Famer, Jim "Catfish" Hunter. He was a favorite of mine even before he became a Yankee since I discovered in my Street and Smith's Baseball Yearbook that we were born on the same day in 1946. The song was written in 1975 and I love the lyrics. Unfortunately, I can't bear to listen to Bob Dylan attempt to sing. Hope somebody else records it some day.

"The Greatest", a Kenny Rogers song written by Don Schlitz, is about a little boy throwing up a ball and trying to hit it. It has a cute and clever twist at the end.

A song that does not appear on the baseball almanac list is "The Show" written by Jon Vezner and Don Henry in 1994. I have it sung by Vezner on his '94 cd "Who's Gonna Know". It tells of a young man's journey to "The Show" which many know from the movie "Bull Durham" is the major leagues. Like "The Greatest", it has a twist at the end.

What is your favorite baseball song? Are you ready to play?