Ten of baseball's greatest (music) hits

Baseball's Greatest Hits features music and memories from the game

Music and baseball go together like popcorn and a movie. No other sport has longer, stronger, or deeper ties to popular music than our Great American Pastime. The old yarn about the 10-year-old who thought the last line of “The Star Spangled Banner” was “Play ball!” is funny because it’s plausible.

Of course, baseball has its unofficial theme song – “Take Me Out To The Ballgame” – played at every Major and Minor League game, but there have been dozens of other songs about the game and its players recorded over the years. Rhino Records released two CD volumes entitled Baseball’s Greatest Hits.

Some of the songs were bona fide hits, some were not. Some, like “Catfish” by Bob Dylan, or “I Love Mickey” by Teresa Brewer, are about specific players. Others, like “Cheap Seats” by Alabama, or “Centerfield” by John Fogerty, are about the game.

The 2009 MLB All-Star game is being played tonight in St. Louis, so today’s “Top-10 Tuesday” list features 10 songs that aren’t specifically about baseball, but should remind you of our Great American Pastime.

Here they are in alphabetical order:

1) “All Star” by Smash Mouth – Sure, it could apply to any sport, but especially tonight, it’s about baseball. “Get your game on” indeed.

2) “Blitzkrieg Bop” by The Ramones – The classic opening – “Hey, ho, let’s go…” has been used in baseball stadiums across the country as a rallying chant.

3) “The Boys of Summer” by Don Henley (later covered by The Ataris) – You don’t hear baseball players referred to as “the boys of summer” that much anymore, but every time I hear that phrase, I think of baseball.

4) “The Boys Are Back In Town” by Thin Lizzy – This classic rock staple is a feel-good tune about the return of warm weather, carousing, and fun. If you’ve ever seen the film Bull Durham, you know those three things are synonymous with baseball.

5) “Cha Cha Slide” by DJ Casper – While many would argue that this song should only be played at well-oiled wedding receptions, there’s no denying the image of a stadium full of baseball fans every time you hear the line, “Everybody clap your hands….”

6) “Enter Sandman” by Metallica – What baseball fan could hear the opening strains of this track and not think of Yankees closer Mariano Rivera making his way to the mound? There are many examples of great entrance music – Ozzy Osbourne's “Crazy Train,” AC/DC's “Hell’s Bells” or “Thunderstruck,” Guns N' Roses' "Welcome To The Jungle," etc., but because of Rivera’s tenure and stature, “Enter Sandman” is a classic.

7) “Glory Days” by Bruce Springsteen – Since I didn’t want the songs on this list to be specifically about baseball (like Fogerty’s “Centerfield”), “Glory Days” almost was disqualified. But while baseball gets mentioned, there’s a lot of other stuff going on in the song as well. A great, wistful summer tune about fading youth and memories that never fade.

Here's Fogerty, along with Keith Urban, performing "Centerfield":

8) “Paradise By The Dashboard Light” by Meat Loaf – Okay, the song is really about that other great American pastime, but the use of Yankee announcer Phil Rizzuto’s play-by-play call is sheer, over-the-top (no pun intended) genius.

9) “Swing, Swing” by the All American Rejects – The “swing” here refers to the effect of being hung-up on a former love, not the hack you take with a baseball bat. But an early appearance on an EA Sports baseball video game solidified this song’s baseball connection.

10) “Walk of Life” by Dire Straits – Yes, you’ll hear a snippet of this song in many MLB stadiums when a batter walks. In fact, the organ riff that opens the song sound like it could have been played on a baseball stadium organ. The breezy, bouncy melody seems perfectly suited for the summer game.