Chorus:
That was my favorite Spring.
I could do anything.
Full six foot tall and lean.
I was just seventeen.
My fast ball was nothing but smoke.
My curve ball snapped and broke.
My change-up made 'em look bad.
They couldn't hit a thing I had.

Chorus: repeat

Last Chorus:
This is my favorite Spring.
He can do anything.
Full six foot tall and lean.
He's just seventeen.
His fast ball gives 'em the shakes;
His curve ball snaps and breaks;
His change-up makes 'em look bad.
People say he takes after his dad.

Bob Schwarer

hanrahan

THE LAST GAME OF THE SEASON
(The Blind Man In The Bleachers)
As recorded by Kenny Starr
STERLING WHIPPLE

He's just the blind man in the bleachers, to the local home town fans
And he sits beneath the speakers, way back in the stands
And he listens to the play-by-play, he's just waiting for one name
He wants to hear his son get in the game.

But the boy's not just a hero, he's strictly second team
Tho' he runs each night for touchdowns, in his father's sweetest dreams
He's gonna he a star someday, tho' you might never tell
But the blind man in the bleachers knows he will.

And the last game of the season is a Friday night at home
No one knows the reason, but the blind man didn't come
And his boy looks kinda nervous, sometimes turns around and stares
Just as tho' he sees the old man sittin' there.

The local boys are tryin', but they slowly lose their will
Another player's down and now he's carried from the field
At halftime in the locker room, the kid goes off alone
And no one sees him talkin' on the phone.

The game's already started, when he gets back to the team
And half the crowd can hear his coach yell, "Where the hell you been?"
"Just gettin' ready for the second half," is all he'll say
"'Cause now you're gonna let me in to play."

Without another word, he turns and runs into the game
And through the silence on the field, loudspeakers call his name
It'll make the local papers, how the team came from behind
When they saw him playin' his heart out to win.

And when the game was over, the coach asked him to tell
What was it he was thinkin' of that made him play so well
"You know my dad was blind," he said, "Tonight he passed Away"
"It's the first time that my father has seen me play."

Dum-da-dum-da-dum-da-dum
Joltin' Joe Dimagio

which had a "response" song in the same melody which started:

Who's better than his brother Joe,
Dom-e-nic Dimagio

I love Mickey
(Mickey who?)
You know who.
The one who drives me batty in the Spring.
Etc.

Mickey Mantle of course......Tiger

I was a Cub game not too long before Steve Goodman died (might have been '84). The closest I ever came to a foul ball at Wrigley was when a ball went over my head and as I turned to see who got it, I saw Steve Goodman. Biggest grin you ever saw.

Here's his "A Dying Cub Fan's Last Request." Check out the web page on him sometime Click here.

Enjoy!

A DYING CUB FAN'S LAST REQUEST

[Talking blues:]
By the shores of old Lake Michigan, where the hawk wind blows so cold,
An old Cub fan lay dying in his midnight hour that tolled.
'Round his bed, his friends had all gathered. They knew his time was short,
And on his head, they put this bright blue cap from his all-time favorite sport.
He told them, "It's late and it's getting dark in here, and I know its time to go.
But before I leave the lineup, there's just one thing I'd like to know:

[Chorus, sung:]
"Do they still play the blues in Chicago when baseball season rolls around?
When the snow melts away, do the Cubbies still play in their ivy-covered burial ground?
When I was a boy, they were my pride and joy, but now they only bring fatigue
To the home of the brave, the land of the free, and the doormat of the National League."

[Talking blues:]
Told his friends, "You know the law of averages says, anything will happen that can.
(That's what it says.)
But the year the Cubs last won a National League pennant was the year we dropped the bomb on Japan.
The Cubs made me a criminal, sent me down a wayward path. They stole my youth from me.
(That's the truth.)
I'd forsake my teachers to go sit in the bleachers in flagrant truancy.

"And then one thing led to another. Soon I'd discovered alcohol, gambling, dope,
Football, hockey, lacrosse, tennis. But what do you expect when you raise up a young boy's hope
And then just crush 'em like so many paper beer cups Year after year, after year, after year,
After year, after year, after year, after year,
'Til those hopes are just so much popcorn for pigeons beneath the El track to eat?"
He said, "You know I'll never see Wrigley Field any more before my eternal rest.
So if you have your pencils and your scorecards ready, I'll read you my last request:
Give me a double-header funeral in Wrigley Field on some sunny weekend day.
(No lights).
Have the organ play the National Anthem and then a little "Na, na, na, hey, hey, hey, goodbye."
Make six bullpen pitchers carry my coffin and six groundskeepers clear my path.
Have the umpires bark me out at every base in all their holy wrath.
It's a beautiful day for a funeral. Hey, Ernie, let's play two!
Somebody go get Jack Brickhouse to come back and conduct just one more interview.
Have the Cubbies run right out into the middle of the field. Have Keith Moreland drop a routine fly.
Give everybody two bags of peanuts and a frosty malt, and I'll be ready to die.

"Build a big fire on home plate out of your Louisville Slugger baseball bats, and toss my coffin in.
Let my ashes blow in the beautiful snow from the prevailing 30-mile-an-hour southwest wind.
When my last remains go flying over the left field wall, I'll bid the bleacher bums adieu.
I will come to my final resting-place, out on Waveland Avenue."

The dying man's friends told him to cut it out. They said, "Stop it! That's an awful shame."
He whispered, "Don't cry. We'll meet by and by near the heavenly Hall of Fame."
He said, "I've got season's tickets to watch the Angels now, so it's just what I'm going to do."
He said, "But you, the living, you're stuck here with the Cubs, so it's me that feels sorry for you!"

And he said, "Ahhh, play, play that lonesome losers' tune, the one I like the best."
And he closed his eyes, and slipped away. What we got is the Dying Cub fan's last request.

[Chorus, big finish, sung:]
Do they still play the blues in Chicago when baseball season rolls around?
When the snow melts away, do the Cubbies still play in their ivy covered burial ground?
When I was a boy, they were my pride and joy, but now they only bring fatigue
To the home of the brave, the land of the free, and the doormat of the National League.

Lineation changed a bit to emphasize the rhyme. --JoeClone, 21-May-03.

Bob Schwarer

Cubs almost made it to the World Series in 1984. Lost to the San Diego Padres (how, I have no idea) who were devoured by the Detroit Tigers. Would have been a great World Series with those two fine old-time ballparks (Wrigley 1914, Tiger Stadium 1912) but I doubt if anyone would have beat the Tigers that year. BTW, did you know that Wrigley was built for another pro league -- Federal, I think, can't find my book on ballparks. Once Tiger Stadium is replaced in the next few years the only two old time parks left will be Wrigley and Fenway. (Yes, yes, Yankee Stadium but it was completely done over.) Don't get me on the subject of those damned corporate boxes.

In E

E, B7, E
E, F#7, B7
B7, E, A, B7
A, B7, E, A, E, B7, E

Chorus:
A, E, B7
A, B7, E, A, E, B7

1. One day the telephone rang-a-lang-lang, way up in the co-co-nut tree
Mister Monkey folded up his paper, "Someone's coalling me."
"Hello, hello, who ya wanna speak to? There's no need to scream!
Some-one wants to play a game, with the monkeys' baseball team.

2. All through the treetops, beating on the cocoanuts, blam-ma-ma-lam-ma boom
Every-one get your uniform on and get to the dressing room
Fielders don't forget your gloves, somebody bring the ball
It's time for the monkeys' baseball game, when we get the telephone call.

Chorus: When the monkey's play the monkey's way, you'll be glad you came,
You never saw the equal of the monkeys' baseball game

3. Chimpanzee played left field, baboon played in right
Orangutan on the pitchers mound was a most imposing sight
But the sight you never saw before and you can bet your hat
Was the mighty roar that went up when the gorilla came to bat

Chorus

4. The other animals had their team, the pitcher was a kangaroo
First the umpire said strike one, they she said strike two
Gorilla swung his great big bat, the ball flew up in the sky.
It dropped in the beak of the pelican bird as it was flying by.

Chorus

5. Now, Mister Pelican came to earth just to see the fun
But since he landed over the wall, the umpire said home run!
Gorilla lumbered around the bases, monkeys cheered his name
Oh what fun in the jungle at the monkey's baseball game.

chorus

This must have been 1937/38, shortly after Ruth retired. Always was a Cub fan though. Still am, although not much of a baseball fan anymore.

After moving to Wisconsin got to go to some Cub games. I recall 50 cents for bleacher seats $1.75 for reserved boxes.

Somewhere on this internet there must be an archive to dig up old box scores. I remember a 16-0 or 16-2 rout so I guess I could pin down the year and who I saw play.

I know this is a far cry from The DT but I thought I'd share some old baseball rememberances. The score cards & bubble gum pictures from that era were trashed many years ago by a house cleaning fanatic.

Bob Schwarer

PHIDEAUX, GO CUBS GO by Steve Goodman was usedby WGN radio as the theme music for the Cubs broadcast for several years. I think they commissioned him to write it. They probably wanted to use "Dying Cub Fan's Last Request" but it was too negative where Cubs were concerned. I even heard it for a few specialized sports broadcasts this year. Art

Steve's second performance of "Dying Cub Fan's..." was on Roy Leonard's radio interview show--- live (with Jethro Burns backing him on mandolin. The first time he sang it was in concert at PARK WEST in Chicago the night before.

Thanks, Scott Schmudlach

You know the story of the two old professional baseball players? We'll as the story goes, these two old freinds that had played together in the high minor leagues were talking over a beer one day and got to wondering if there would be baseball in heaven. So they made a pact between themselves that whoever would be the first to die, would make contact from the great beyond to let the other know if there was baseball in heaven. They laugh and drink to the bargain, and never mention it again. Several years pass and one of them dies, and a week after the funeral, the surviving friend wakes up from a dream to find the ghostly figure of his dead friend sitting on the end of his bed. Frightened, he sits up and says 'Frank? Is that you?'. "Yep" says the apparition in a friendly voice. "I've come to fulfill our bargain." "Bargain?, what bargain?" replies the living friend. "Don't you remember our deal about baseball in heaven?", says the ghost. "Oh for Pete's sake" says the friend, in a kind of disbelief that the half jest had actually come to pass. "So, tell me, is there, baseball I mean?". "Well there's good news and bad news" says the ghost. The good news is that we got the best baseball in heaven you ever saw. All the greats are there, Matthewson, Wagner, Ruth, Gehrig, Smokey Joe Wood, Josh Gibson, Satchel Paige, everyone. And the best part is we all get to play together. We got a regular league going. Why just yesterday I went 3 for 4 against Walter Johnson. I tell you its the greatest thing I've ever seen." "Man, that's great!" says the surviving friend, "I'm so glad to hear your having fun. But what's the bad news". "Well", says the ghost, "The bad news is that you're pitchin tommorow".

Bad-ump-bump.

This is such a great song that when I heard it on the radio (we are blessed in Pittsburgh with WYEP 90.3 FM that has a variety of folk/blues/bluegrass/regge,etc. music) I stopped the car at the nearest payphone and calle the station to find out what they were playing. A very helpful clerk at Borders helped me find the cd. If you want the words I'll be glad to post them. I'm sorry the real easy program to post tunes seems to be beyond my comprehension. Cheers Paul

John Foggerty

as in my usual style, I know just enough to be dangerous...

DOING MY JOB by John McCutcheon (1995 Appalsongs)

It was one for the ages, One you just had to see
So we sat on the sofa, My two kids and I
And we watched on TV, It was in the fifth inning
The game it had to be stopped
The whole ballpark went nuts
When the number was dropped
My kids they clapped and they hollered
Me, I choked up with tears
Thinking back onf the grace, He brought to that place
For over thirteen years
And as he stood in the spotlight
He looked so awkward and shy
When they asked him to say a few words on that day
This was his reply.

CH: "I'm only doing my job, Like folks everywhere
Where I come from, It's just how things are done
Doing my share, Idid not love every part
Still I don't think it odd, Give your best
And to hell with the rest, Doing my job"

She gets up every morning, Gets the kids out the door
Then it's carpool and shop, Vacuum and mop
Until they're back home at four
Then it's supper and homework until they're all tucked away
It's a kiss and goodnight, And you turn out the light
For the four thousandth day.

CH

We deliver the mail, We grow all the crops
We teach in the schools, we put out the fires
And we clerk in the shops
We enter the data, We build the bridges and roads
We show up every day, We work for our pay
We carry the loads.

CH

rich r

I remember my Grandpa, his hat in his hand the Star Spangled Banner being played by the band the roar of the crowd as the pitcher took aim When baseball was just a game

Sixteen rows up in the bleachers we sat we jumped to our feet at the crack of the bat so far away, but we didn't complain When baseball was just a game

written by Joe Manning and Steve Vozzolo Ó 1988 VOZZ-MANN Music

from: I LOVE BASEBALL, collection of brand new songs about the grand old game.

I LOVE BASEBALL has been accepted as part of the permanent collection of baseball music at the National Baseball Hall of Fame, where it is also sold and played.

"I LOVE BASEBALL pleases on the first visit and delights on repeated visits. If you yearn for baseball's past and lament what we have lost, the album does not disappoint. Vozzolo and Manning know how to get to the heart of baseball's nostalgia and dreams. And to yours."

*Quote from NINE: A Journal of Baseball History and Social Policy Perspectives

I LOVE BASEBALL

THE ALBUM: A collection of brand new songs about the grand old game.

THE ARTIST: Steve Vozzolo and The Rookies.

THE PRODUCERS: L & R Productions and VOZZ-MANN Music.

THE SONGS: Fifteen original songs written by JOE MANNING and STEVE VOZZOLO plus an exciting new arrangement of "Take Me Out To The Ball Game" with the original verses written in 1908. All of the original songs have been accepted as part of the permanent collection of baseball music at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. As a result, JOE and STEVE have been awarded lifetime memberships in the Hall Of Fame.

WHO IS STEVE VOZZOLO?: Steve is a veteran singer and songwriter who lives in Connecticut. He owns the Peanut Stores in Hartford. He is a member of Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI) as a songwriter and publisher and is also a member of the Connecticut Songwriters Association. Steve plays piano and guitar.

WHO IS JOE MANNING? Joe is a songwriter, poet, author, and photographer, who also lives in Connecticut. He is a caseworker for the Connecticut Dept. of Social Services. He is also a member of BMI as a songwriter and publisher. Joe is a member of the Board of Directors of the Connecticut Songwriters Association and served as its president from 1984 to 1986.

WHO IS L & R PRODUCTIONS?: L & R Productions is a music studio and production company in East Hartford, CT. They have written and produced many jingles for minor league baseball teams around the country. Owners PAUL LOMBARDO and TOM RUSSO have also been awarded lifetime memberships in the Hall Of Fame for their creative efforts in the production of I LOVE BASEBALL.

WHO ARE THE ROOKIES?: PAUL, TOM, JOE, and all the musicians at L & R Productions.

SONG LIST

1. I LOVE BASEBALL 2. THEY SAY THERE'S A KID IN TEXAS 3. WHEN BASEBALL WAS JUST A GAME 4. MY MOTHER THREW MINE AWAY 5. BLACK DIAMOND DAYS 6. TRIPLE-A BLUES 7. BIG GAME TONIGHT 8. DIAMONDS ARE A BOY'S BEST FRIEND 9. BEFORE THE GIANTS MOVED TO FRISCO 10. COOPERSTOWN 11. THE PEANUT 12. BASEBALL'S SAD LEXICON 13. TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALL GAME 14. THE BABE 15. SOMETIMES IT RAINS 16. CURVE BALLS

HOW TO ORDER

*I LOVE BASEBALL is available on CD and cassette. Send check or money order for $18.00 (CD) or $12.00 (cassette) to: VOZZ-MANN Music, PO Box 115, Torrington, CT 06790 Make check or money order payable to: VOZZ-MANN Music Price includes postage.

FOR RETAILERS:

Wholesale price is $10.40 for CD's and $6.50 for cassettes. Orders accepted in any amount. I will charge for shipping.

Contact: Joe Manning, VOZZ-MANN Music, PO Box 115, Torrington, CT 06790 (860) 489-4403 jmanning@javanet.com

This was the original Mets team song probably from 1962. Not a work of art but the subject is not "Work of Art Baseball Songs." My wife is still struggling with the fact fact that I know this fan. She, of course, favors the Yankees.

All the best.

Wobegon Whippets Rag by Garrison Keillor. I have the words to this somewhere.

Lefty by Chuck Brodsky. I have only heard this once on the radio and don't have the words but it is a great song.

rich r

Frank hic.

rich r

Bah humbug, a pox on corporate seats and the destruction they have caused to the democratic and egalitarian sport of baseball. And a pox on the people who bring cell phones and miniature television sets out to the ball park, and who whine for gourmet food outlets. (Why is it that foul balls never seem to bean the obnoxious man with the cell phone?) There must be a bitter song in this somewhere. I once saw a picture of President Taft attending a Senators game and while he had a good seat he was still down there with everyone else, evidently enjoying himself immensely.

I blame the Astros. Once they allowed that infernal Astroturf then there was nothing they wouldn't let into the game.

(Thinking that it might be going to waste, I actually enquired of the Tigers if they would be willing to sell their flag pole (in play) in left centre to a community group to which I belong -- we'd have put it in a local ballpark. However it was not for sale and it appears they are taking it with them to their new digs.)

Bob S.

Here's yet another Paxton song from the album "Suzy Is A Rocker"

THE BASEBALL KIDS (Tom Paxton)

We're the baseball kids, It's Saturday morning,
We're the baseball kids, It's Saturday morning,
We're the baseball kids, It's Saturday morning
And we're gonna play all day long.

We're gonna choose up, We're gonna choose up sides
Tell me: Who's good? Who runs and slides
We're gonna choose up, We're gonna choose up sides
And we're gonna play all day long.

We're gonna play hard, We're gonna hit that ball
It's a big yard, With an outfield wall,
We're gonna play hard, We're gonna hit that ball,
And we're gonna play all day long.

We're playing baseball, We have a baseball team
And when we sleep nights, We have a baseball dream
We're playing baseball, We have a baseball team.
And we're gonna play all day long.

And as I promised in 1998.

WOEBEGON WHIPPETS RAG (Garrison Keillor)

Well hello team, I'm on my way
I'll be in shape and ready to play
By the end of August if not in May
It's the Woebegon Whippets Rag.

When you're dressed in a nice clean uniform
And you loosen up and your arm is warm,
And you drop the ball going round the horn,
That's the Wobegon Whippets Rag.

Well here's how you do the Whippets Rag,
Ther's a high pop fly you just can't shag,
Throw it to second and miss the tag,
And over to first, take your foot off the bag.

Well sure is lonely here in right,
A long way to walk and the sun's too bright,
Sure am glad this'll be my last year
I wish somebody would send out a beer.

Here's the wind-up and here's the pitch,
There's a fly to right, son of a gun,
Can't let it drop or another man scores,
It's mine and I got it, no it's yours.

That makes the score 20 to 2
Sorry coach I had a stone in my shoe
Whe are they yelling, why do they boo?
Yeah, buddy, well same to you.

I do my best but it ain't enough
Seems like I done lost my stuff
How could a fellow concentrate
With that woman in the bleachers behind home plate.

I wonder what she's doing after the game
I wonder if anybody know her name
If I knew her name, I'd give her a call
O goodness sakes here comes the ball.

rich r

Would "Paradise by the Dashboard Lights" qualify as a baseball song? It's got Phil Rizzuto's commentary, as well as a lot of hitting and scoring.

One of my favorite baseball tunes, "Brown Eyed Handsome Man" was a Chuck Berry tune (I think) about Jackie Robinson. I saw Jackie when I was about 6 years old, at the old Dodger Stadium before they built Chavez Ravine. Also in that game were Pee Wee Reese and Duke Snyder. Roy Campanella had just been released from the hospital after a tragic accident that left him paralyzed, and that game marked his return to Dodger Stadium. I remember the standing ovation he received as they wheeled him up to Home Plate, and seeing my Dad with tears in his eyes.

Roger in Baltimore

The Day I Played Baseball

Me name it is, Waddle-de-wee,
Me name is Influenza,
I moind me bizness, stay to home,
Me wants are few and small.
Until one day some blaggards come,
With whiskey, gin, and wine and rum,
And hauled me out in the b'ilin' sun,
To play a game of ball.

The Chicago nine had Spaulding out,
His pitchin' was underhanded,
And when he got on the Caballico Twist.
Sure, an' no one could hit him at all.
The umpire called three strikes on me.
"How's that?," sez I, "Yer out!", sez he.
I lit on his nose like an angry flea,
The day I played baseball.

I picked up a bat, I hit the ball,
I thought 'twas in San Francisco.
I run the bases three by three,
I run the bases all.
The crowd let out with a horrible howl,
Saying, "Good auld boy, ye hit a foul."
They rubbed me down with a Turkish Towel,
The day I played baseball.

(A couple of lines I can't remember)
They put me out in the centerfield.
I paralyzed them all.
I put up me hands to catch a fly,
When, Holy Mither, she hit me eye.
They hung me on the fence to dry,
The day I played baseball.

I think there may have been another verse which I've forgotton, too. Anyway, if ANYONE out there has heard of this song or knows anything about it, or anything that resembles it, I'd greatly appreciate hearing from you. Many thanks.

Bryce bandz@sedona.net

HTML line breaks added. -JoeClone 29-Mar-01.

Hello Mamie Reilly, how are you today?
Hello Mamie Reilly, I hear you're going away.
Come and kiss your mother before you say goodbye.
Hello, hello, hello Mamie Reilly.

Slide, Kelly, slide. Casey's at the bat.
Where in the heck did you get that baseball hat?
Way down in old Virginny.
Hello, hello, hello Mamie Reilly.

Mark

All the best,
Dan Milner

(We watch the Cubs here all the time -- me mum, who lives with me (not the other way around; trust me, there's a major difference!), has been a Cubs fan since Quinn Ryan was the announcer. Me da used to call himself a baseball widower. The woman keeps player stat cards all summer... She thinks cable TV is a gift of God, because she can now get WGN. She's 84 and can still shag balls for the kids, at least for a while.)

There was a Tom Waits song, too: "Sight for Sore Eyes." The chorus went

Hey barkeep, what's keeping you? -- keep pourin' drinks
For all these palookas; hey, ya know what I thinks?
That we drink to old days and DiMaggio, too
Old Drysdale and Maris, Mickey Mantle and you.

Sarah

My local heroes, the San Francisco Giants, have a theme song that's played at the opening of each radio broadcast. Unfortunately, only the instrumental version is played. It's been so long since I've heard it sung, I can only remember the opening line - "When the Giants come to town, it's bye, bye, baby." It refers to former announcer Russ Hodges homerun call - "You can tell it 'Bye, Bye, Baby'!!!" An appropriate song, since they had Mays, McCovey, and Cepeda playing together for several years.

-chanteyranger

-chanteyranger

Things are looking up. Still a Cub fan though.

Bob S (phideaux earlier in this thread)

Night Game
Paul Simon
(from Still Crazy After All These Years, 1975)

There were two men down
And the score tied
In the bottom of the eighth
When the pitcher died

And they laid his spikes
On the pitcher's mound
And his uniform was torn
And his number was left on the ground

Then the night turned cold
Colder than the moon
The stars were white as bones
The stadium was old
Older than the screams
Older than the teams

There were three men down
And the season lost
And the tarpaulin was rolled
Upon the winter frost

--------

Alex

Saturdays on the baseball field
And me afraid of the ball
Just another kid on camera day
When the Angels still played in L.A.
I was smiling
In living black and white

Baseball caps and bubble gum
"I think there's a hole in my glove."
Three-and-two, life and death,
I was swinging with eyes closed, holding my breath
I was dying
On my way to the bench

But none of it mattered after the game
When my father would find me and call out my name
A snow cone, a soft drink, a candy bar
A limousine ride in the family car
He loved me, no matter how I played

But none of it mattered after the game
When my father would find me and call out my name
Dreaming of glory the next time out
My father showed me what love was about
He loved me, no matter how I played

But none of it mattered after the game...

-------------------

posted by: Alex

140. THE DAY I PLAYED BASE BALL (IRISH COMIC SONG). Rooney, Pat (m & w). New York: E.H. Harding, 1878. (M1978.S7R) 10003 J2.

I also found that the Sons of the Pioneers recorded a song called "Day I Played Baseball," which is credited to someone named Rooney. It is on their 5-CD compilation, "Songs of the Prairie," 1998.

Blasted In The Bleachers, with the chorus

Let's get blasted in the bleachers, go insane
....
....
We can even watch the game
We don't need no runs or hits
Just a six pack of Schlitz
Win or lose, it's all the same
It's only a game

and Man, How Did We Ever Blow That Lead.

I believe they were both written by Boston area songwriters.

Then there's the one PP&M sing called "Right Field."

Sonja

Jimmy G, somehow the Holy Mackerel song made it into my brain's hardwire circuits, if you don't get an official version I'll scrape together mine and post it later.

Other songs I can recall: It's a Beautiful Day for a Ball Game. And There Used to be a Ballpark.

And thanks, 'Catter who posted the Dying Fan's song, I hadn't seen that. I moved away, and then when They broke my heart again in 87, I gave Them up for good. Still love that beautiful park, though, always will.

Rose he knows he's such a credit to the game
But the Yankees grab the headlines every time
Melodrama's so much fun
In black and white for everyone to see

Me I'm trying just to get to second base
And I'd steal it if she only gave the sign
She's gonna give the go-ahead
The inning isn't over yet for me, for me

---------
posted by: Alex

Widdershins, even!

Alex

The Rubaiyat of Joe Tinker

      (The Rise and Fall of a Manager)

Before the phantoms of the last year died,
Loudly a voice at Cincinnati cried---
"Come to our city, Joe, and lead the Reds---
You'll be our idol and our only Pride!

"You shall be manager, in fact and name---
You shall control, and you shall run the game---
No one shall say a word but you---
Come, hurry, Joe!"--- and eagerly I came.

I strove and struggled, and I broke my neck,
To lead the club, which soon became a wreck---
And, when I tried to use my own ideas,
I found I was--- a three-spot in the deck!

There was the wall, o'er which I could not climb---
There was the hook, that threatened all the time---
The garden of red peaches promised me
Bore, as it's fruit, a lemon and a lime!

I fought in vain--- the walls were high and thick
And those who held them plugged me with a brick.
The season ended, and I strove to gain
Authority--- and got a lovely kick.

Oh, for my old job, as in days of yore,
With Evers working at my side once more---
No management for mine, but just the chance
To make the Red directors good and sore!

                   » The Rubaiyat of Joe Tinker
                   Article in Baseball Magazine
                   February, 1914 (Vol. 12, Issue 4) -- p. 6

And to reinforce a couple other references, for anyone interested in the baseball/folk connection, the work of Chuck Brodsky is essential. The most recent time I heard him, in February, he said he's going to release a collection of his baseball songs since he now has nine of them, "enough for a lineup". Obviously a National League guy.