It’s finally here.
As a life-long baseball fan, Opening Day is easily one of my favorite days of the year. Though my Chicago White Sox are primed to finish in last place yet again this season (they’re improving, I swear), I couldn’t be happier to be able to sit down every night and watch them try to piece together a respectable season for the first time in half a decade.
If you’re a fan of a competent baseball team, Opening Day is even more exciting. Though the Los Angeles Dodgers are primed to win their third-straight World Series thanks to their enormous payroll and superstars such as Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and more, there are plenty of teams around the league that can make some noise.
To celebrate baseball finally being back for the next seven months, I thought it would be the perfect time to scour country music history and find some of the best tracks celebrating America’s pastime. I think it’s safe to say that football is the most prominent sport in the genre, with a plethora of songs like “The Boys of Fall,” “Tennesee Orange” and “South On Ya” all becoming hits for the likes of Kenny Chesney, Megan Moroney and Luke Combs. With that being said, there are some great hidden gems about baseball in the genre.
From Alabama and Kenny Rogers to Morgan Wallen and Reckless Kelly, here are 10 country songs about baseball to get ready for Opening Day.
1. “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
2. “’98 Braves” – Morgan Wallen
It seems like everything Morgan Wallen touches turns to gold lately, highlighted by becoming the highest-selling country artist of all time back in December. Appearing on his 2023 record, 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, craft the song well, likening that Braves team to a lost love.
3. “The Greatest” – Kenny Rogers
Who doesn’t love a good narrative-driven Kenny Rogers 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 humorous 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.
4. “April To October” – Reckless Kelly
This extremely obscure track from the severely underrated Texas group 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 Bandcamp 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.
You can listen to the track HERE.
5. “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.
6. “Swing” – Trace Adkins
Sure, the song is arguably one of the precursors to bro-country and easily the worst song that Chris Stapleton has ever co-written, but I think it would be remiss not to at least mention it. It certainly exists, and it’s one of the only songs (loosely) about baseball to crack the Top 20 on the Billboard charts — it had to be here somewhere.
7. “Centerfield” – John Fogerty
You can argue “Centerfield” isn’t really a country song, and, honestly, I wouldn’t disagree with you. With that being said, it’s arguably the most iconic song about baseball of all time. Given the fact that John Fogerty (and Creedence Clearwater Revival by extension) have always toed the line between southern rock and some country influences throughout their careers, I think it’s fair game to add to the list.
8. “Joe DiMaggio Done It Again” – Billy Bragg & Wilco
Originally written by the legendary folk songwriter, Woodie Guthrie, Billy Bragg & Wilco put a brilliant bluegrass twist on the obscure track. As for “Joe DiMaggio Done It Again” itself, it’s about as straightforward as it appears. It’s simply a breezy track celebrating the Yankees legend and his status as one of the greatest hitters in MLB history.
9. “715 (For Hank Aaron) – Peter Cooper
Undoubtedly the most interesting track on this list, this obscure track from the Grammy-winning singer/songwriter is equally about Hank Aaron’s illustrious MLB career as it is about the civil rights movement. Simultaneously celebrating Aaron being one of the greatest power hitters in baseball history and condemning the way African Americans such as the Braves slugger were treated during his career in the 1950s and 1960s.
10. “America’s Favorite Pastime” – Todd Snider
Appearing on the same obscure EP as Reckless Kelly’s “April To October,” this song from the late, great Todd Snider centers around Pittsburgh Pirates legend, Dock Ellis’ no-hitter in 1970. In case you’re unfamiliar with Ellis and the no-no, incredibly, he threw it while tripping on LSD. Celebrating the absurd piece of MLB history, Snider, as always, pens this track perfectly.
You can listen to the track HERE.
