Terry Cashman is a record producer and singer-songwriter from New York City….who is best known for his 1981 hit “Talkin’ Baseball.”….for while the song is well recognized today….it was all but ignored by typical Top 40 radio during its chart life….while making only the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart.
Cashman was the lead singer for a band called The Chevrons in the late 1950’s through the early 1960’s…..who also played Minor League Baseball in the Detroit Tigers organization at around the same time. In 1967, Cashman teamed up with Gene Pistilli and Tommy West to form the pop-folk group Cashman, Pistilli and West….as their debut album Bound to Happen (1967)….which included the Cashman-Pistilli composition “Sunday Will Never Be the Same”….and a # 9 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 for “Spanky and Our Gang” that year and # 7 in Canada…..then the group had a 1969 # 22 hit single (# 15 in Canada), “Medicine Man”….then under the name The Buchanan Brothers….they had a follow-up solo single “Son of a Lovin’ Man” which hit # 50 in Canada…..which was followed In the fall of 1972 with a Cashman & West’s song “American City Suite” which hit # 27 on the Billboard chart and # 25 on the Canadian RPM chart….as Cashman, Pistilli and West (later reduced to Cashman & West) enjoyed modest success after recording six albums through 1975. The Cashman-West team also produced all the hit recordings of singer-songwriter Jim Croce. In 1975 they launched Lifesong Records….which would have hits including “Shannon” by Henry Gross and “Ariel” by Dean Friedman.
Inspired by a picture he had received of Willie Mays, Duke Snider, Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle, Cashman decided to write a song dedicated to 1950’s major league baseball….as the popular choral refrain in the song “Talkin’ Baseball with Willie, Mickey, and The Duke” immediately struck a chord with fans in 1981….who were disappointed by the Major League Baseball strike that summer.
Cashman has since recorded multiple versions of the song for different Major League Baseball teams….and because of this….he is now known as “The Balladeer of Baseball”. He also recorded a parody of the song in 1992, “Talkin’ Softball,” for the end credits The Simpsons episode “Homer at the Bat.”
The Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum honored Cashman in summer 2011 as part of its induction weekend. Cashman performed his ballpark anthem once again during ceremonies on July 23, 2011….a day before Roberto Alomar, Bert Blyleven and Pat Gillick were inducted….and in 2011, he was inducted into the Irish American Baseball Hall of Fame.
Any way you cut the pie…..Talkin Baseball will bring a smile to any baseball fan’s face whenever they hear it played…no matter how many time….and when you put this song to wonderful MLB memories and players….it simply becomes MUST SEE TV!!!
