Two Important Pieces Of Baseball-Music News

1. The best folk singer of my generation, Dan Bern, has released an 18-track album of baseball songs entitled “Doubleheader.” It is now available to preview and buy. His songs are about listening to Vin Scully on the road, Mickey Mantle’s tragic injuries, Jackie Robinson, Pete Rose and Bart Giamatti, Merkle’s boner, Gallarraga’s perfect game, and my personal favorite at the moment, the very straightforwardly-titled “The Year-By-Year Home Runs Totals of Barry Bonds.” The songs are loving and empathetic, and they are without pomp, circumstance, or cynicism.

2. Ben Gibbard of Death Cab For Cutie and The Postal Service has released a song he wrote several years ago for Ichiro Suzuki. The song was obviously written long before Ichiro started declining or was traded to the New York Yankees and it is an unabashed love song. The chorus goes “go go go go Ichiro!” and that part will probably be stuck in your head for a few days. It all sounds like a Beach Boys song if Brian Wilson was a hardcore lifetime Mariners fan singing about Ichiro Suzuki and breaking your heart when he mentions Dave Niehaus.