Bloggerhythms

It's Opening Day once again, and the Phillies are pursuing their third World Series championship, so it's time for a little baseball related music.   The appeal of Baseball's Greatest Hits (1989) lies almost exclusively with hardcore baseball fans and those who like to bask in its history. It's an interesting and informative artifact but not something a listener would routinely pop in his CD player (if you still have one) on a regular basis because it's a collection of novelty songs that are mostly really, really old. The album has twenty-two tracks that are predominantly songs but it also includes a handful of spoken word radio broadcasts and comedy bits. Among the latter are museum pieces such as Abbott & Costello's famous "Whose On First" (1945), "Lou Gehrig's Farewell Speech" (1939), and "Bobby Thomson's Shot Heard 'Round The World" (1951). Also featured is actor and vaudeville star DeWolf Hopper who rec...

During his time with the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 1950s, the great Jackie Robinson and his wife were having trouble buying a home in Connecticut. Despite his hard won acceptance as a sensational baseball player, many people - even those who rooted for him - did not want his family living in their neighborhood.  After a newspaper article detailed the Robinsons' failed attempts to purchase a nice suburban home caught the eye of a woman named Andrea Simon, she helped the Dodger legend fulfill his dream. Simon was the wife of Richard Simon of the renowned Simon and Schuster book publishing firm and mother of pop singer-songwriter,  Carly Simon . The two families became close friends. The Robinsons even lived with the Simons while the baseball pioneer's new home was under construction. The star frequently played ball with Carly and her family in the Simon's backyard and she grew up bleeding Dodger blue. (Tommy Lasorda would have been s...

The Philadelphia Phillies are finally in The World Series again for only the sixth time in my lifetime. Considering my days as a baseball enthusiast began in 1961 - the year of their infamous twenty-three game losing streak - that isn't very often. It's a record of futility that has never been broken. They finished that season with a horrid 47-107 record.  UGH! The Phillies are historically known for playing poorly all the way back to 1883 when the National League expanded to Philadelphia after disbanding a team located in Worcester, MA. Their original name was the Quakers and they played like pacifists. Most of their reputation as losers came from many terrible seasons that followed World War One until they finally assembled an outstanding lineup in the mid-70s. In 1976 the "Bicentennial Bombers" made the post-season for only the third time in their history, and they finally won their first ever World...

Tommy West, one half of the early 70s soft-rock duo, Cashman and West, passed away on May 2, 2021. In tribute, below is a very slightly edited reposting of an article that was first published on Bloggerhythms on September 30, 2010.  My lifelong passion for the Philadelphia Phillies is second only to my passion for music. For those of you not in North or South America, The Caribbean, Japan, or South Korea, they’re a professional baseball team from The United States and in 2008 they were the champions of the whole sport. On Monday night The Phillies won their division title for the fourth straight year and earned a chance to play in their second straight World Series. If they do indeed make it to the final round I'm hoping they get to play Joe Girardi's New York Yankees this fall so they can show The Bronx Bombers that they are the new sheriff in town. ( From 2020 to early in the 2022 season Girardi managed the Phillies. - Updated May 15, 2026. ) The impending post-season go...

After music baseball has always been my number two passion in life with the possible exception of a few Octobers when the Philadelphia Phillies made the playoffs. Both the sport and the art form have been a huge part of my life since childhood with the Phillies functioning as my primary obsession only until February 9, 1964. That Sunday evening, an unknown rock quartet from Liverpool, UK appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show. Music took over my life quickly after that and I never looked back. That same year, after The Beatles blew up all around America and the rest of the world, The Phillies were making what was then an extremely rare run for a National League pennant that seemed inevitable until September when they blew a 6 1/2 game lead with only twelve to play. They lost ten games in a row before winning the last two of the season. Sadly, by that time it was too late. Unfortunately, there are still fans who haven...

Hey baseball fans, Spring Training is upon us and it couldn't be more welcome. Those of us living in the Eastern half of the United States have whined all winter (and rightfully so) about our unusually cold and snowy introduction to the new year so we're looking forward to the coming season. Normally, I would save a post such as this one for opening day but since I can't wait to put the snow shovels away and smell some freshly groomed grass let's listen to a sampling of baseball related songs before your star pitcher's newly torn rotator cuff knocks your team out of the race before Memorial Day. First, take a look at Bloggerhythms' review of High & Inside (2011), the second CD by The Baseball Project, Scott McCaughey's quartet staring Peter Buck on guitar and featuring nothing but songs about America's popular summer game. Their modern rock music is good but you have to be more than a casual fan to fully appreciate the concept. Gamble & H...

The Baseball Project is a quartet consisting of four rock music veterans, all of whom have staked out a nice reputation for themselves in other bands. The starting lineup is Steve Wynn, founder of the 80s band, Dream Syndicate, his wife, drummer Linda Pitmon, and recent free agent, Peter Buck of R. E. M. The clean up hitter is Scott McCaughey of The Minus Five who later became an unofficial member of Buck's late, great band during their final years together. The four assembled for this side project because McCaughey and Wynn, two huge baseball fans, decided to start a band with a unique concept. All of the songs would be about their favorite sport. Volume 1, Frozen Ropes and Dying Quails , was released in 2008 and Volume 2, High & Inside , was released last year. Of course, dedicated baseball fans with knowledge of the sport's rich history will appreciate these two albums more than anyone else. However, because the songs are also history lessons and commentaries...