50 Songs that Mention Baseball Players By Name

40. Billy Joel - We Didn't Start the Fire ("Little Rock, Pasternak, Mickey Mantle, Kerouac")

I think Buck 65 might have one or two too...

33. The L.A. Fans - "Hideo Nomo Song" (sounds like "Day-o")
32. Warren Zevon - "The Ballad of Bill Lee" (which come to think of it may not mention him by name in the lyric, just the title, but still. it is obviously about him).

"Bob Alou" by Ricky Ricardo doesn't count I guess

Watzup Widat???

I promise thee I Dodge a nigga like Raul Mondesi...
RAP PLEASE US! Deliver scriptures similar to Jesus
That you couldn't catch if you was Ivan Rodriguez...
I'm on the phone in the luxury box like George Steinbrenner
The owner, makin you give your Diamond-back like Arizona
Winnin always Indian like Chief Nakahoma...
Yo the realness stuck, females Blauch my Knob like Chuck...
Without the Rover, more range than Rey Ordonez...

also,

23. cam'ron "yeo man"

yes i flip that white pudding
but i swear i wish i met dwight gooden
to show him that my pitch is better
bring strawberry dogg i'll be rich forever
shit, them two niggas coppin bricks or better

All the time I was listening to "Hey Ladies" and I had no clue what the hell Saddaharu Oh meant.

Cool Tits!

Bob Turley got too surly and they traded him too early
Whatta great line!

One-armed Pete Gray also referred to.

Um, nothing, it was #50....

11. also I'm surprised Blount didn't mention Athens' own Summer Hymns and their immortal "Pete Rose Affinity"

that's twice that this one's been mentioned (see #32), but bill "spaceman" lee doesn't show up anywhere in the lyric. for whatever that's worth.

WHO LED THE N.L. IN DOUBLES TWICE
WHO PLAYED WITH NINE BODY PARTS IN ICE
WHO WAS THE N.L. BATTING CHAMP TOO
WHO'S BEST REMEMBERED FOR ONE BOO-BOO

WHO OUT-HIT MOST PLAYERS IN THE HALL OF FAME
WHO PLAYED MORE THAN MOST IN THE GAME
WHO HIT THREE HUNDRED PLUS FOR EIGHT SEASONS
WHO WAS GREAT FOR SO MANY REASONS

WHO HOLDS THE RECORD FOR ASSISTS AT FIRST
WHO'S BEEN TREATED THE VERY WORST
HIS CAREER SPANNED FOUR DECADES. WHAT A SHAME
THE GREAT BILL BUCKNER TOOK ALL THE BLAME

REPEAT CHORUS

I STILL WINCH A BIT AT THAT EIGHTY SIX GAME
BUT NO LIFE WAS LOST...LIFE GOES ON THE SAME
BILL BUCKNER'S CLEARLY A MAJOR REASON
WHY WE HAD THAT GREAT EIGHTY SIX SEASON

IT'S OVER AND DONE WITH. TIME TO FORGET
TIME TO REALIZE WE'VE BEEN ALL WET
BILL MIGHT MAKE IT TO THE HALL OF FAME
UNTIL WE ATONE WE'RE IN THE HALL OF SHAME

REPEAT CHORUS

IF YOU EVER COME BACK TO NEW ENGLAND BILL
I HOPE WE CHEER YOU FROM EVERY WINDOW SILL
BILL BUCKNER REMEMBER AND VALUE THAT NAME
A PLAYER WHO GAVE HIS HEART TO THE GAME

(REPEAT LAST TWO LINES AND FADE)

We're talkin' Softball.

From Maine to San Diego.

Talking' Softball.

Mattingly and Canseco.

Ken Griffey's grotesquely swollen jaw.

Steve Sax and his run-in with the law.

We're talkin' Homer...

Ozzie, and the Straw.

You walk 8 and you hit a guy
The things that people shout
Especially your manager
But he didn’t take Dock out
Dock found himself a rythym
And a crazy little spin
Amazing things would happen
When Dock Ellis zeroed in

Sometimes he saw the catcher
Sometimes he did not
Sometimes he held a beach balll
Other times it was a dot
Dock was tossing comets
That were leaving trails of glitter
At the 7th inning stretch
He still had a no-hitter...

It's all about the Negro League baseball stars. Mentions Josh Gibson, Danny Day, Satchel Paige, Leon Day, many more.

http://www.sirbacon.org/graphics/docke.gif

...'Cause if you wanted to, you could think of him as neither "Dock Ellis" nor "D. Ellis", but as "Ellis D." Now, say that name aloud to yourself several times, until it sinks in.

Glenn Burke (the credited originator) meant there, I suspect.

31. yo la tengo - "moby octopad" (mentions butch huskey)

I never caught that, but YLT mentioned it when they were profiled on the SNY cable "Mets Weekly" the other night.

yes

What game was this? Anybody know?

Indeed. Thanks, and I should have known that.

But now we can add Beyonce's "Deja Vu" to the thread - "Juan Pierre."

Also, Tim Curry's "I Do the Rock" mentions DiMaggio.

Roberto Clemente by Joe Bataan

bluebucksclan - “aaron judge”

Only bustas I like, is Buster Posey

In the Ken Burns documentary:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-7Ac2LVVYU

thread was dead for the entire existence (so far) of The Baseball Project: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Baseball_Project#Discography

Dry Cleaning - Gary Ashby

I have know idea why a band from London would know who Gary Ashby is. I sure as hell didn't until I looked him up, not that I'm a baseball fan.

In 1965, I wasn't quite alive yet
But I'm told they gave the MVP to Zoilo Versalles
Oliva hit the singles and Harmon hit the homers
Mudcat Grant won 20 games and they didn't play in a dome yet
The Dodgers came to Bloomington to play for the World Series
The Twins took the first two, you can even ask Vin Scully
But Sandy Koufax proved to be a bit too much to crack
And the Twins went down in seven, but they vowed that they'd be back

From Nicollet to Hennepin, from St. Paul to St. Cloud
The Minnesota Twins are making Minnesotans proud
We don't buy our titles so the summers where we stay
These are grown men, these are heroes
Please don't call them Twinkies

In the fall of 87, I was pretty much in heaven
I got my license and a girlfriend and the Twins had won the pennant
I prayed more in the Dome than I ever did at church
Kirby Puckett had the smile, Kent Hrbek had the smirk
First we tamed the Tigers, then we were dealt the Cards
And they came to the Twin Cities to try to make sense of our park
It was loud, and it was close, and it went to seven games
But the Twins took home the title and that sweet music played

From Edina to Duluth, from the south side to downtown
The Minnesota Twins are making Minnesotans proud
So hey, let's make some noise, c'mon, wave those Homer Hankies
These are grown men, these are heroes
Please don't call them Twinkies

In 1991, the Twins were once again on top
We faced Atlanta in the Series and they thought that they were hot
I've never seen nothing so lame as that Fondahawk chop
But we were up against the ropes when Kirby called his shot
And as he ran around the bases, smiling and pumping fists
Wwe all knew that he had won it, though it was only just game six
And the next night, Jack Morris came and made his hometown proud
You should watch it in slow motion: Ron Gant was clearly out

From Mankato up to Brainerd, from Burnsville to Bemidji
Now we're playing outdoor baseball and that's the way it should be
Raise a toast to Kirby Puckett, raise another to Tom Kelly
These are Minnesota Twins
So let's not call them Twinkies

We've got Justin, we've got Joe
That's enough reason to party
We don't buy our titles
And we've still won two World Series
Grab yourself a 3.2 beer and raise a toast to Gardy
These are the Minnesota Twins
So please don't call them Twinkies
Please don't call them Twinkies
Please don't call them Twinkies
Please don't call them Twinkies

I've never set foot in Minnesota, but how could they leave out Carew, Killebrew, and Oliva?

The Mountain Goats - The Big Unit (Randy Johnson)
https://themountaingoats.fandom.com/wiki/The_Big_Unit

Correction to my inability to read: they did get Oliva and Killebrew into the Twins song. I can't see Carew, though.

Carew didn't play for a World Series or Pennant-winning Twins lineup, which is what the song is mostly about.

Yeah, you're right; I'm nitpicking about nothing. Carew and his mad hits did get onto a Beastie Boys song.

YouTube is on in the background and these lyrics leaped out to me:

I'm in Shanghai with the top down
Raspberry Roger Clemens throwing 90 off the mound
Nolan Ryan Texas Ranger with the sunset hounds

Pichando y dando palos como Ohtani

Besides Mike Piazza, Belle & Sebastian's "Piazza, New York Catcher" almost mentions Willie Mays - "the statue's crying too and well he may" the last three words as that line is sung sound like "Willie Mays" with the "s" left off - I think this was intentional wordplay - and the statue (where the pair meet at the end of the song) is likely the big statue of Mays at Candlestick Park where the SF Giants (who play the NY Mets in the song) played.

I have a 45 of this:

https://i.postimg.cc/vBMmbQZN/moseby.jpg

Hugely influential: Public Enemy and NWA both appeared within the next couple of years.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1I3DcGIOL1k

Bad Bunny mentions a ton of guys in his songs, perhaps unsurprisingly mainly Puerto Rican players as he’s Puerto Rican. A sample, Spanish translation depending on what’s out there:

Acho PR features a few familiar names:

Like Bryce Harper, always lighting up Phillies
Genius annotation helpfully tells me that Phillies are also a brand of cigar, and you always see players smoking cigars after getting through rounds in the postseason. Not sure Mormon Bryce smokes though?

Later, same song:
Dude, the best
Roberto Clemente, Albert Pujols (Pujols)
Maradona and Messi in the football
But I'm the new star, signed like Sugar and Lindor

Bizarrap & Residente’s Sessions:

I'm Correa, Báez, and Lindor, a double play part of the routine

J Balvin ft El Alfa -Bellacon:

I hit like Ohtani, I swing it like Manny

he says he’s a yankee like juan soto on “nuevayol” :(

ok what he actually says is “i have no rival, with the yankees and the mets, juan soto”