Talkin' Baseball - References in Song - Other References

Other References

Explanations of some other references in the song:

"The Whiz Kids": a nickname for the Philadelphia Phillies in the early 1950s, especially their 1950 pennant winner.

"Bobby Thomson had done it": In 1951, Thomson hit what became known as the Shot Heard 'Round the World to win a playoff between his team, the New York Giants, and the Brooklyn Dodgers, their arch-rival.

"Yogi read the comics...": Yogi Berra was known for enjoying comic books.

"The national pastime went on trial": Baseball has been called the national pastime since the 1800s. In the 1950s, there were attempts to overturn baseball's exemption from anti-trust laws, especially in Toolson v. New York Yankees.

"Well, Casey was winning..." Casey Stengel was the manager of the perennially great New York Yankees from 1949 until 1960, during which time they won the World Series seven times.

"Midget Gaedel": In 1951, St. Louis Browns owner Bill Veeck hired Gaedel for a one-day stunt, sending the 3-foot, 7-inch Eddie Gaedel up to the plate as a pinch-hitter.

"And Ike was the only one winning down in Washington" refers to U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower. The Washington Senators baseball club was a perennially losing team.

"The Oklahoma Kid": This refers to Mantle, who was from Oklahoma.

"Bobby Bonds can play for everyone": Bonds played for eight teams in his career, and as of 1981 had played for all eight of those teams within eight seasons.

"Rose is at the Vet": After spending 16 years with the Cincinnati Reds in 1978 Pete Rose joined the Philadelphia Phillies, who at the time played at Veterans Stadium.

"Rusty again is a Met": Staub had been traded away by the New York Mets following the 1975 season but returned in 1981.

"And the great Alexander is pitchin' again in Washington" is actually a double reference--to Grover Cleveland Alexander and to U.S. President Ronald Reagan. When the song was released, Reagan had recently assumed the presidency; the line refers to the fact that in his former career as a film actor Reagan had portrayed Alexander in the movie The Winning Team.

"If Cooperstown is calling, it's no fluke": The Baseball Hall of Fame is sometimes referred to colloquially as "Cooperstown," as it is located in the town of Cooperstown, New York. Ultimately only five of the players mentioned in this verse were elected to the Hall of Fame. Jackson, Seaver, Carew, Perry, and Schmidt made it; Quisenberry, Garvey and Blue, to date, have not.

"Say hey": Used in the final chorus, Willie Mays was known as "The Say Hey Kid."

The refrain of the first two verses includes the line "They knew 'em all from Boston to Dubuque". In the baseball-centered movie "Field of Dreams", released 8 years after this song, most of the movie's Boston scenes were actually filmed in Dubuque, Iowa.