Here's the Pitch

Since today is when pitchers report to Spring Training, I thought it only proper to post this wonderful song by the great Tom Paxton about being a baseball pitcher.  Well, it's about that and more.

I have a particular fondness for this particular recording, as well.  It comes from his album Live from McCabe's ​recorded on the backroom stage at the Santa Monica music shop in 1991.  That's because I was at the concert.  The album wasn't released immediately, but many years later.  In 2006, in fact.  However, when it eventually went on sale, the memory kicked in of all the recording equipment on view, and him referencing that they were recording the show for later release.  (I just didn't guess how much later...)

Semi-related Side Note:  Readers here will remember that I've written a few times about my friend Vicki Riskin, a one-time practicing psychologist and later president of the Writers Guild of America (as well as one-time president of Human Rights Watch), whose parents were Fay Wray and screenwriter Robert Riskin, a co-founder of the Writers Guild and Oscar-winner for It Happened One Night.  I mention this because her brother Bob was the owner of McCabes.  Though he didn't found the place, he worked there and then bought it, and started the concerts which have been going on for 60 years.  He and his wife retired about three years ago, because of COVID pummeling the business, but happily, it's righted itself, and the store and concerts are still going.

I should mention that though the video below says it's 5:05, in fact the song only lasts 3:30.  For whatever reason, the recording continues with his commentary about the song to follow, though stops before getting to it.