Play Ball! My Top 10 Baseball Songs

In this long, cold winter in America's heartland with freezing winds, lots of snow and ice and according to Punxatawney Phil, another six weeks of this crap, one of the signs of spring is found in the sport of baseball.

Something about the sport formerly known as "America's passtime" brings about a renewal of the seasons as much as the greening trees and grass. Of course, for some time now, whining, filing lawsuits and employers staying awake at night thinking up ways to put the screws to employees has replaced baseball as the passtime in the U.S. That and the application of body piercing and tattoos, maybe.

Anyway, with baseball spring training about to begin in Florida and Arizona, that means summer is not far behind. If you like this list, be sure to check out my summer songs articles, please. Here is my list of favorite baseball songs:

Saturday In The Park/ Chicago
This song does not refer specifically to baseball, but how can one not think of the game when hearing this song. Can you dig it, yes I can...

Na Na Hey Hey Goodbye/Steam
Another 70's standard that does not mention baseball, but has been used for years to serenade pitchers who have been lifted from the game. That makes it a good baseball song by itself.

Beautiful Sunday/ Daniel Boone
No, not the early American settler who killed a "bar" when he was only 3, this Daniel Boone had a hit with this tune in the you-guessed-it, 70's. It's a beautiful Sunday with you by my side, let's take a car and go for a ride...

Seasons In The Sun/ Terry Jacks
Another 70s classic, this baseball song by the one hit wonder Jacks. Now that spring is in the air, the whiff of flowers everywhere, we had joy, we had fun, we had seasons in the sun...

Walking On Sunshine/Katrina & The Waves
Another one hit wonder, this one from the 80s, however. Yet another tune that does not specifically reference baseball. Who cares? Lyrics about walking to the mailbox refer to a simpler, less technological time. I'm walkin' on sunshine, whoa and don't it feel good?

Walk Of Life/Dire Straits
This sing is often played at baseball games when the opposing pitcher walks a batter. Again, a song doesn't have to specifically make reference to baseball to be a good baseball song. Here comes Johnny singin' oldies goldies, be-bop-a-lula baby what I say, here comes Johnny sayin' I got a woman, down in the tunnel tryin' to make it pay, he got the action, he got the motion, oh yeah, the boy can play, dedication, devotion, turnin' all the nighttime into the day...

Glory Days/Bruce Springsteen
I got a friend who was a big baseball player, back in high school....Glory days, yeah they'll pass you by, glory days, in the wink of a young girl's eye. Says it all, don't you think? that alone makes this an essential baseball song.

There Will Never Be Another Tonight/Bryan Adams
So the title is a little corny, so what? It's a good uptempo song which is always good for a sports song, or in this case specifically a baseball song.Who cares about tomorrow, let the wind fill your sails, a runaway train ridin' on the rails, we got the bases loaded, home run, power play, tonight's the night we're goin' all the way...

Blame It On The Rain/Milli Vanilli
This might seem to be a strange selection for a baseball song and it probably is. A cheesy, Diane Warren-written ditty by a disgraced lip-synching group that was stripped of their Grammys, Milli Vanilli wasn't that much worse than a lot of techno,over produced disco-type stuff on the airwaves now.

So the fellas used a "designated hitter", a singer named Brad Howell, to actually sing the lead vocals on their songs. It's still appropriate for a sport that is not played much in the rain. Blame it on the rain, that was fallin', fallin', blame it on the stars that shine at night, blame it on the rain, yeah, yeah.

Centerfield/John Fogerty
The quintessential baseball song, this one. It's probably on about every list of baseball songs. Put me in coach, I'm ready to play, today, look at me, I can be centerfield. . To hit the ball and touch 'em all, a moment in the sun, pop, it's gone and you can tell that one goodbye...

These and other baseball songs are available to listen to or download at sites like www.last.fm/.