Songs About Baseball

Once known as America’s Past Time, as well as The Boys of Summer, baseball seems to be synonymous with everything “American” such as apple pie and Chevrolet. It’s been a long time tradition, starting with Little League and rising through the ranks of high school, college, and the lucky few that make it to the Big League. Still, many little boy’s dreams reflect this sport as seen through a whole series of movies as well as stories in books over the years. And nothing was cooler than getting out to the ballpark with dad or the family to enjoy a major league game, hopefully getting there early enough to watch batting practice, maybe lucky enough to get a foul ball or an autograph, and looking forward to that incredibly tasting jumbo stadium hot dog, along with peanuts, Cracker Jacks and an ice cream treat …..  sort of a rite of passage from boyhood to manhood.  Ahhh ….. the memories.

Babe Ruth

This draws everything together for creating a playlist to take along with you featuring songs specifically about baseball or, in a few cases, using baseball as a metaphor within the song. I was trying to avoid anthem type songs to get the crowds pumped up such as Queen’s “We Will Rock You”, “We Are The Champions“, Gary Glitter’s “Rock & Roll, part 2“, Thin Lizzy’s “The Boys Are Back In Town“, AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck“, Booker T & The MG’s “Green Onions“, 2 Unlimited’s “Get Ready For This“, Black Eyed Pea’s “Let’s Get It

Joe DiMaggio

Started” or Sister Sledge’s “We Are Family” among others. All of these I’ve heard at games to get the crowds pumped and the cheering started, but these really have nothing to do with baseball or sports for that matter. So the selections have been considerably narrowed down. I’ve seen a few albums online through Amazon and elsewhere featuring unknown or little known artists doing a baseball tribute album of songs they wrote or covered, but the songs are virtually unknown to the masses out there. Below are the few I was able to come up with, one of my smallest lists yet.

Wrigley Field - Chicago

1. Amazing Willie Mays – King Odom Quartet
   

   Hank Aaron

2. America’s Favorite Pastime – Todd Snider
3. The Baseball Song – Tim Flannery (former major leaguer)
4. Baseball, Baseball – Jane Morgan
5. Baseball Boogie – Mabel Scott
6. Catfish – Bob Dylan
7. Centerfield – John Fogerty
8. Cheap Seats – Alabama
9. Did You See Jackie Robinson Hit That Ball? – Buddy Johnson
10. The D-O-D-G-E-R-S  Song (Oh, Really? No, O’Malley) – Danny Kaye
11. A Dying Cubs Fan’s Last Request – Steve Goodman
12. Glory Days – Bruce Springsteen
13. The Greatest – Kenny Rogers
    

    Mickey Mantle

14. Hey Batter, Batter – Trent Tomlinson
15. I Am Here – John McCutcheon
16. I Watched It All On The Radio – Lionel Cartwright
17. Joltin’ Joe DiMaggio – Les Brown & His Orchestra
18. I Love Mickey – Mickey Mantle & Teresa Brewer
19. Load Up The Bases – Whiskey Falls
20. Move Over Babe (Here Comes Henry) – Bill Slayback
21. Piazza, New York Catcher – Belle & Sebastian
22. Play The Game – Dean Taylor
23. Right Field – Peter, Paul & Mary
24. Say Hey (The Willie Mays Song) — The Treniers
25. Say Hey Willie – Ricky Segall (Partridge Family 4 year old neighbor)
    

    Willie Mays

26. Swing – Trace Adkins
27. Take Me Out To The Ball Game – [Traditional]
28. Talkin’ Baseball – Terry Cashman (refer to #30 below)
29. There Used To Be A Ballpark – Frank Sinatra
30. Ty Cobb – Soundgarden
31. Willie, Mickey & The Duke – Terry Cashman (There are actually versions of this song done by Terry featuring individual Major League Baseball teams featuring their star players.)

 

I suppose you could add a few more songs that refer to baseball in unusual ways such as …..

Duke Snider

• Mrs. Robinson — Simon & Garfunkel
• Paradise By The Dashboard Light — Meat Loaf
• Love Is Like A Baseball Game (Three Strikes, You’re Out) — The Intruders
• Life Is A Ballgame — Sister Winona Carr
• Tessie — Dropkick Murphys
• Will You Be Ready At The Plate When Jesus Throws The Ball – Elmo & Patsy

 

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Just for the fun of it I’ve included a link below to a hilarious baseball  parody/spoof of Terry Cashman’s, “Talkin’ Baseball” featured on a Season 3 episode of The Simpsons entitled “Talkin’ Softball” . Whether you’re a Simpsons fan or not, this was well done and should bring back some nostalgia to ya — You gotta check this one out …..

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I can’t conclude this post without including this comedy gem — the timeless and unforgettable hilarious Baseball classic by Abbott & Costello’s of “Who’s On First?”

Here’s the YouTube Video LINK to that one.

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Here are a couple more related posts from my site to check out:

Best Baseball Movies Of All Time – “A Tribute To The Boys Of Summer”

Songs About Football – American Style

Field of Dreams - Dyersville, Iowa