Compiling this list took months of research and involved whittling down more than 300 songs to just the 42 listed below.
After going back and forth about what constitutes a “baseball song,” I settled on a relatively broad definition: songs that are either explicitly about the game, or which use it as a metaphor or backdrop for life in general.
That means songs with just a perfunctory baseball reference didn’t make the cut.
In the end, the list below is one of the most comprehensive that has been published. It includes many classics and standards, as well as a number of songs from relatively unknown indie artists that I hope you’ll be excited to hear for the first time.
In the future, my plan is to write mini reviews for each of the entries below. For now, here’s my list, with each title linked to a YouTube video of the song. (I’ve embedded the videos for my top 10 picks.)
I’ve also created a Spotify playlist, though it does not include The Tinklers “Hank Greenberg” and Ben Gibbard’s “Ichiro’s Theme,” which aren’t available on the platform.
I’d love to hear your thoughts about this list, so let me know in the comments section below!
- Terry Cashman – “Talkin’ Baseball® (Willie, Mickey & The Duke)”
- Dave Fishberg – “Van Lingle Mungo”
- Jerry Jeff Walker – “Nolan Ryan (He’s a Hero to Us All)”
- Whiskey Falls – “Load Up The Bases (The Baseball Song)”
- Trace Adkins – “Swing”
- Corey Smith – “The Baseball Song”
- Nichole Wagner – “Rules of Baseball”
- Doug Kolmar – “Baseball on the Radio”
- The Tinklers – “Hank Greenberg”
- Ben Gibbard – “Ichiro’s Theme”
- The Mountain Goats – “Cubs In Five”
- Peter, Paul and Mary – “Right Field”
- Teresa Brewer ft. Mickey Mantle – “I Love Mickey”
- The Mountain Goats – “Doc Gooden”
- Audio Disorder – “Grover Cleveland Alexander”
- Frank Sinatra – “There Used to be a Ballpark”
- The Treniers – “Say Hey (The Willie Mays Song)”
- Les Brown & His Orchestra – “Joltin’ Joe DiMaggio”
- Billy Bragg & Wilco – “Joe DiMaggio Done It Again”
- Bob Dylan – “Catfish”
- Gord Bamford – “Baseball Glove”
- Nina Simone – “Baseball Boogie”
- Natalie Cole – “Did You See Jackie Robinson Hit That Ball”
- Jean Grae and Natural Resource – “Negro League Baseball”
- Ultramagnetic MC’s – “Saga of Dandy, The Devil & Day”
- Eddie Vedder – “All The Way”
- The Grundybergs – “Playing Baseball With Walt Whitman”
- Ry Cooder – “3rd Base, Dodger Stadium“”
- Adam Stengel – “Willie Mays”
- Chuck Prophet – “Willie Mays Is Up At Bat”
- Kenny Rogers – “The Greatest”
- Bruce Springsteen – “Glory Days”
#10. Caroline Spence – “Softball”
#9. Alabama – “The Cheap Seats”
#8. Willy Tea Taylor – “Brand New Game”
#7. Steve Goodman – “A Dying Cubs Fan’s Last Request”
#6. Todd Snider – “America’s Favorite Pastime”
#5. Michigan Rattlers – “Baseball”
#4. John Fogerty – “Centerfield”
#3. Peter Cooper – “Opening Day”
#2. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – “My Oh My”
#1. Peter Cooper – “715 (For Hank Aaron)”
