Baseball season is officially back, and there’s no better way to celebrate its arrival than to highlight five songs, old and new, that celebrate America’s pastime.
“’98 Braves” – Morgan Wallen
It seems like everything Morgan Wallen touches turns to gold lately, seemingly breaking streaming and sales records with every new release. Featured on One Day At a Time, “’98 Braves” sticks out in the best way possible. This track centered around the 1998 Atlanta Braves team that won 106 games before shockingly losing to the San Diego Padres in the NLCS. Writers, John Byron, Josh Miller and Travis Wood, expertly craft the song, likening that Braves team to a lost love.
“The Cheap Seats“ – Alabama
This 1993 track from the legendary band is arguably the best song ever written about America’s pastime. “Cheap Seats” contains just about everything one would want from a country song about being a baseball fan. A small town famous for its below-average AAA team, flat beer and the feeling of losing your small town to expansion all make appearances throughout this classic Alabama song. The timeless lyrics about the simplicity of a small-town baseball team coupled with classic nineties country production make this track as classic as a good game of baseball.
“The Greatest“ – Kenny Rogers
Who doesn’t love a good Kenny Rogers story song? Like many classic country songs before it, “The Greatest” focuses on the simplicities of life. Schlitz Donald Alan, the sole songwriter on the track, crafts a beautiful scene of a boy trying and failing at hitting a baseball. The humourous situation of a boy not being able to hit a self-pitched ball gives away a surprisingly poignant and inspiring message of always finding the light in the darkness of a situation.
“The Baseball Song“ – Corey Smith
“The Baseball Song” provides a unique angle on the classic baseball song formula. The lyrics, on their surface, are all about growing up around the game and playing it. However, the entire song serves as an allegory to being a musician in Nashville. Every step in the baseball journey can be likened to Smith’s or any other musician’s climb to a record deal as well. Either way you look at the song, whether it’s about baseball or a musician’s journey, it’s a great one.
“April to October“ – Reckless Kelly
This extremely obscure track from the country-rock band appears on a 2009 EP entitled The Homerun EP. The EP and song itself are so obscure, in fact, that they are only available for streaming on Spotify as of today. April to October is about as literal as a song about baseball can be. There’s no extended metaphor or allegory about the game, it’s simply a song about a team’s season. The track highlights the grind of a six-month, 162-game season in a pleasant country-rock fashion.