It’s that time again, time for Baseball season to begin. Whenever I think about baseball I can’t help but think bout my brother who loves baseball. I don’t men he loves baseball, I mean he LOVES baseball. He bought baseball cards from the time he was 5 years old and kept them! When many kids placed the cards in the spoke of the bicycle wheels to get that whirring sound, my brother was creating stats fields on paper and marking them down from the back of the cards. He started playing baseball in the late 60s and was forced to stop just last year. His knees gave out and had to give up playing, but on his terms. He had knee replacement surgery on his left knee in January and is recuperating nicely but it has not been easy.
I’m dedicating this post to my beloved bro and would love to know his baseball song pics in the comments below. I’m going with 3 big baseball players who have had songs (and movies) made about them. Here are my 3 choices for this week’s theme from Monday Music Moves Me..
1. THE BABE(BABE RUTH) SUNG BY TERRY CASHMAN-1994
Yeah.... you have to go to youtube to play this. I couldnt find it via Blig...grrrr. Terry Cashman is a noted music producer but is also famous for the song, “Talkin’ Baseball” but I thought of some famous baseball players who must have had songs written about them. The great Babe Ruth came to mind and I found this song. I think Terry wrote in 1994, but I wonder if this song is actually earlier….
2. JOLTIN’ JOE SUNG BY BETTY BONNEY WITH THE LES BROWN ORCHESTRA-1941
Joe DiMaggio is another very famous Baseball player from the 1930s and early 40s who had a 56 game hitting streak. He is also famous for falling in love and marrying Marilyn Monroe. Even though they divorced, they started getting closer, again, shortly before her death and was devastated when she died. He made sure her funeral was perfect and he sent a red rose to her grave every day.
3. DID YOU SEE JACKIE ROBINSON HIT THAT BALL BY COUNT BASIE-1949
This song was written by Buddy Johnson and became a hit. Jackie Robinson is a noted baseball player who deserves the accolades of a player in the big leagues, but he is also known as the first man to break the colour barrier. This man deserves so much more for heroic times on and off the field dealing with the horrible racism that is ingrained in the U.S, especially the South. I like this song and I wish it was as well known as the standard ones like, “Take Me Out To The Ball Game.”
Which songs do you think of when baseball season comes round.
I liked these old time songs back when baseball was truly the American pasttime. (I suspect now it's a tie between football and basketball). The first and last songs were new to me. For baseball, I think of both John Fogerty's Centerfield and some of the advertising jingles from my childhood - Baseball and Ballentine in particular.
ReplyDeleteHi, Birgit!
ReplyDeleteSending well wishes for your brother's complete recovery from knee surgery, dear friend. I am sure he will appreciate this post. Like him, I was big into baseball when I was young. I collected baseball cards and, given that I am left-handed, did some pitching and also played first base in the 9-12 and 13-15 junior leagues.
I enjoyed your baseball songs. This was my first time hearing all three. I enjoy watching the William Bendix portrayal of legendary slugger Babe Ruth in the 1948 film The Babe Ruth Story. It was touching to read about Joe Dimaggio's devotion to MM after her death. I'm sure you recall the reference to DiMaggio in the S&G song "Mrs. Robinson."
Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?
Our nation turns its lonely eyes to you
Regarding Jackie Robinson, you are absolutely right about racism being alive and well in today's U.S.A. It's a disgrace that presents itself daily in the news.
The most on-the-nose baseball song I know is a 1968 single that my girlfriend (the future Mrs. Shady #1) and I loved and one that I had in my record collection. Entitled "(Love Is Like A) Baseball Game," the song by the Philly soul group The Intruders made the top 5 on the R&B chart and went top 30 on the pop chart.
I am returning with my next post tamale morning and will also be back here waiting for you here, sitting in the balcony-- "At The Movies!" Smooch Harley for me and have a wonderful Wednesday, dear friend BB!
I remember baseball cards. All the boys loved collecting 'em! :) That's amazing your brother was playing the game up til last year. Sports are hard on the joints and age doesn't help. That's great he's recovering nicely from knee replacement surgery. Will he need the other worked on?
ReplyDeleteYou came up with some unique songs for this week, none of which I knew that's for sure. I love how you stick with vintage stuff that no one else usually thinks of. :)
Thanks for joining us on the dance floor, dear Birgit. Have a boogietastic week! xo
"Centerfield" and "Boys of Summer."
ReplyDeleteI also love baseball. I definitely understand the arguments of those who don't like it, but it's heaven to me.
My favorite team? The Yankees. I also realize how polarizing that is.
Trivia: I also know who the last player was who wore Jackie Robinson's number. Mariano Rivera.
ReplyDeleteHmmm.... AL, I didn't realize that Rivera was the last player to wear Robinson's number. Although I have always hated the Yankees (it's a Dodgers thing, you wouldn't understand ;-), I've always had the utmost respect for Rivera. Not only was he an ultra-great relief pitcher, but as far as I know, he was a really great human being, too! I would have been extra-pleased to have him on the roster of any MLB team I've ever rooted for!
Delete~ D-FensDogG
"Centerfield". Which has already been mentioned. Not a huge baseball fan, which, considering I'm in the LA area, is probably sacrilege. The teacher I'm subbing for today has a poster on her wall that says, "The Trophy Stays in LA". In Dodger blue.
ReplyDeleteI would say the LA is a baseball town, so yes. For shame.
Delete"The trophy stays in LA." Sorry for this Yankees fan to admit, but...yes.
DeleteAwwww, sis... thanks for thinking of me! I truly love hockey, but baseball is one notch above that. It truly was a privilege to play as long as I did. Since I started in 1969, I can say I played some form of organized baseball for seven decades which makes me a lucky guy. And to those who were asking, my healing has been very slow but steady. I plan on getting the other knee done next winter. Unfortunately, I wore both of them out.
ReplyDeleteYou'd think there would be a wider selection of baseball songs out there after about 150 years but the pickings aren't overwhelming. My three choices? I have to go with "Take Me Out to the Ballgame," especially since our mom (who, as you know, knew nothing about baseball) decided to learn the words and sing it to me one time on my birthday. That is an endearing memory. Second? I have to go with the closing song from "This Week in Baseball," a popular baseball highlight series that aired weekly each Saturday from the late 1970s well into the 1990s. You'll find the song at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giAsugzxZIM
My third song was actually written and performed by a local musician E.C. Palmer, and by local, I mean Niagara Falls, New York. It's about a real-life player named Ed Delahanty who played in the majors from 1888 to 1903. He had four brothers who also played in the bigs. Unfortunately, Ed had some issues and one night while traveling through the Niagara Region by train, he was kicked off. The story has it that he tried to walk across the train bridge from Fort Erie to Buffalo when he fell into the Niagara River, most likely to his death. You can hear this awesome song at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t509hSySVWI&list=RDt509hSySVWI&start_radio=1
BIRGIT, as you may remember, I previously said that I was born and raised in helL.A., and grew up as a Dodgers fan. It didn't hurt that my Ma worked for many years as an important secretary for the team (even while the stadium was being built in Los Angeles), and my Grandpa bought our family season tickets from opening day in Dodger Stadium 1962 through about 1994.
ReplyDeleteSo, my entire family were major baseball and Dodgers fans, and my favorite product review that I ever wrote for Amazon was baseball-themed:
http://stephentmccarthyreviews.blogspot.com/2017/02/hitting-it-right-on-sweet-spot.html
I don't think there are any baseball-themed songs that I dislike. But if I had to name my two favorites, they would be the following two, which I don't believe have been previously mentioned in the comment section:
"It's a Beautiful Day for a Ball Game" by The Harry Simeone Songsters (1960)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73BUGkEiJXc
That one was the opening theme song for the Dodgers' game-day radio program. I heard it thousands of times, and often while en route to Dodger Stadium to see the game that the radio broadcasters were promoting.
"The Greatest"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LYOIEU6I6g
I didn't hear 'The Greatest' until after I had given up on baseball, and subsequently ALL sports. But, I really love the old school feeling of it, and the child-like humor. It takes me back to when my Brother and I were little kids and first falling in love with "America's Pastime".
~ D-FensDogG