Many people were stunned (myself included), and many upset, when Major League Baseball announced a four-year agreement to move everything that mattered to CBS starting in 1990. It would be the first time in 15 years that the All-Star Game, League Championship Series and World Series would all belong to one network. NBC was baseball king way back in the day, before having to share the kingdom with ABC from 1976 to 1989. (Another huge change was the reality of Howard Cosell calling Monday Night Baseball, but that's another story....and yes, Monday Night Baseball on network television used to be a thing....)
Then, on the eve of CBS debuting its baseball coverage, they fired their face, their voice, and the person everyone thought would be the lead announcer on their coverage, Brent Musburger. And while Jim Nantz was waiting in the wings for college basketball, he wasn't ready to be, well, the second coming of Brent Musburger that he is now.
So CBS went back to the future and hired Jack Buck to join Tim McCarver, a move universally panned by critics and fans, who, frankly, were all guilty of age discrimination. Had Buck lost a half-step? Yes. But, as history has proven, zillions more people remember his call of Kirby Puckett's game-winning home run in extra innings of Game 6 of the 1991 World Series than do Sean McDonough's call of Joe Carter's World Series winning home run in Game 6 two years later.
The preceding was not an indictment of McDonough, in fact, I'm thrilled for him getting Monday Night Football. But that, too, is another story. :)
Let's get to today's song. It, too, elicited reactions from both sides. But I always thought it was a fantastic "throwback" tribute to the grandeur, the glory, and the historic allure of "America's Pastime". It's certainly better than Fox's current lazy use of its now-tired football theme for anything and everything.
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