Very Well Then

For at least the last dozen years, I have made it my opening day tradition to pull out Steve Goodman’s version of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame”  from my CD collection.    I love Jethro Burn’s mandolin work.  In the joy of opening day, Jethro is as much plucking my heartstrings as he is plucking mandolin strings.

And every year, while I’ve got the Steve Goodman CD out, I inevitably play Steve’s more famous “A Dying Cubs Fan Last Request.”  More smiles.

This year, My opening day music selection continues with a CD I picked up since last opening day:  the Baseball Project.   There’s a line in “The Yankee Flipper” (About Jack Black McDowell) I like on so many levels:

Jack loved the Replacements and we drank enough that we became them.

And I’ve spent plenty of time in the last years channeling the spirit of the Hold Steady.   The first time I ever heard of the band, oddly, was when I heard their version of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.”   The only youtube version of the song I can find is a mashup with some good Metrodome nostalgia.

Happy Opening Day.