Baseball Songs for Kids (2014 Update)

It's been about 3 years since I last posted a list of baseball songs for kids, and it's time I updated it, methinks.  Unfortunately, my team is winless even though the season hasn't even started yet, but why should that dampen your kids'  enthusiasm for America's pastime?

As always, leave comments below -- i.e., additional suggestions -- if you've got 'em...

-- "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" (well, duh) -- try Wiggleworms Love You, from the Old Town School of Folk Music (nicely bipartisan, cheering for both the Cubs and White Sox), or also the Hold Steady's version.

-- "Baseball Dreams" -- off At the Bottom of the Sea, by Ralph's World (Cubs all the way in this one)

-- "I'm Gonna Catch You" -- off Under a Shady Tree, by Laurie Berkner (it has one relevant line -- "So I jumped into Saturday / And I had a baseball batter-day" -- yes, this one's a bit of a stretch)

-- "Pop Fly" -- off Justin Roberts' album by the same name, about a daydreaming boy playing the outfield...

-- "Centerfield" -- off Centerfield, by John Fogerty (not kids' music, but a great song anyway). See also Visqueen's rendition on the Desoto Records kidscomp Play!

-- "Talkin' Baseball -- off countless albums by Terry Cashman, who just re-recorded and updated his song every few years -- baseball history lesson in 3 minutes

-- "Big Train" -- off the RTT's Turn It Up Mommy!. About Walter "Big Train" Johnson. I'd probably disagree that he's the best pitcher ever, but that's another blog. Good song.

-- "Right Field" -- Peter, Paul and Mary.

-- "Cryin' in the Dugout" -- off Daddy-A-Go-Go's Eat Every Bean and Pea on Your Plate album. A humorous song, "Baseball Dreams" played for laughs instead of nostalgia.

-- "The Greatest" -- Kenny Rogers.

-- "Roll Around" -- Peter Himmelman, off of his My Lemonade Stand CD. A fun, rollicking song about a baseball who retires, then comes back to his true calling.

-- "Baseball Tips with Professor Buckley -- Peter Himmelman, My Green Kite, an amusing little spoken-word piece.

-- "Baseball" -- Milkshake, off Play!. Guest-starring Cal Ripkin, Jr.

-- "The Challenger Baseball Song" -- Ben Rudnick and Friends. All about the Challenger Division of Little League, for kids with mental and physical disabilities.

-- "Baseball, Baseball" -- Stephen Cohen, off Here Comes the Band.

-- "Hey! Batter!" -- Hank Cooper, from Playground Fortune Teller -- all about the language of baseball...

-- "High Five" -- They Might Be Giants (at least in part anyway, and the video features some baseball players -- and c'mon, the team sponsored a Little League baseball team...)

-- "Bruce Springstone's" version of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame."

-- Kathy Kallick's "brilliant refashioning" of Count Basie's "Did You See Jackie Robinson Hit That Ball"

-- "Bring 'Em In" -- the Deedle Deedle Dees (off their American History + Rock 'n' Roll = The Deedle Deedle Dees album)

-- "I Love Baseball" -- Jim Cosgrove (off Ooey Gooey)

-- "Home Run Ronnie" -- Debbie and Friends (off More Story Songs and Sing-Alongs)

-- "Lullabye with Baseball and Trains" - Peter Himmelman (off My Trampoline)

-- "Cool Papa Bell" -- The Deedle Deedle Dees (off Strange Dees Indeed, watch an early Lloyd Miller rendition here)

-- "Tommy Got in Trouble Today" -- the Bazillions (off Rock 'n' Roll Recess)

-- "Not So Good at Baseball" -- Barry Louis Polisar (off Old Enough to Know Better)

-- "Catfish" -- off Bob Dylan's Bootleg Series. I am unfamiliar with this one. But it's Dylan.

-- "Joe DiMaggio’s Done it Again" -– Wilco and Billy Bragg, from their Mermaid Ave Vol. 2 (not "kids music," per se, but totally OK.  Great, even)

-- "A Dying Cubs Fan’s Last Request" –- Steve Goodman. See "Talkin' Baseball," above.

-- "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" -- Brave Combo.  It's Brave Combo, how could it not be fun?

-- "Jackie" -- Lucky Diaz and the Family Jam Band (from Lishy Lou and Lucky Too).

-- "My Baseball Bat" -- The Boogers (Let's Go)

-- "Jackie Robinson -- Ellis Paul (The Hero in You)

Kindiefest: All Things Kindie (and Pizza)

Details on the annual kindie confabulation known as Kindiefest are coming together and for those of us "in the biz," as none of us "in the biz" actually say, it looks like another great weekend of gabbing, listening, and eating.  (The pizza is not a joke.)

The full set of panels and panelists have been announced, and I think for the musicians making a living (or hoping to) who attend, you're bound to find a panel or four worth your time.  While some panels appeal to the creative entrepreneur in me ("Managing Self-Management Kindie Style"), as a non-kindie musician, I'm most looking forward to the broader items -- the "KindieTalks," for example, featuring Laurie Berkner, Dean Jones, and WXPN's Robert Drake doing TED-talks-style presentations.

Plus, I have three words for you: Ella Jenkins keynote.​  I am seriously geeked for that.

​So, yes, I am attending once again.  I'll be curating/presenting a video session currently titled $9.99: Kindie Music Videos in the Age of YouTube​.  It'll feature, well, kindie music videos of both recent and, er, vintage vintage.  I'm really looking forward to putting that together and showing it at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, where the conference is moving to this year -- the better to hold its 2 expanded days of panels and workshops.

I'm also looking forward to the Saturday night artists' showcase, which features a lot of artists I've never seen perform live. ​I'm particularly eager to see Stephen Cohen, Ratboy Jr., and Dan Zanes performing with Elizabeth Mitchell, and I'm always curious to see whose performance ends up surprising me.  And while they haven't yet announced the Sunday public concert lineup, based on which artists have been announced as attending the conference whose names haven't appeared on a panel or Saturday night, I think that's going to be out of sight.

Most of all, I'm looking forward to seeing everyone in the kindie field.  There are friends, of course, like Jeff and Mindy, and all the Kindiefest braintrust, whom I look forward to talking with.  And while as a reviewer, I tend to consider my relationships with musicians as different from "friends," it's hard not to get jazzed by being in the presence of so many creative (and, usually, funny) people.  And music.

​So if you are involved in making, presenting, or selling music for kids, I encourage you to register.  And say hello.  And come to my presentation.