# Athletes name-dropped in songs **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 26, 2011, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-name-dropped-in-songs/594168 "2011-08-26T12:30:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-name-dropped-in-songs/594168/1 "2011-08-26T12:30:50Z")
Rod Carew is in two–“Sure Shot” and “The Hanukkah Song”. Joe DiMaggio is in “Mrs. Robinson.” Belle and Sebastian have a song called “Piazza, New York Catcher.” Which athlete is name-dropped the most in songs? ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-name-dropped-in-songs/594168/2 "2011-08-26T12:35:19Z")
I dunno, but **Slam** magazine always has a short piece on basketball players name-dropped in current hip hop/rap music. I remember, years ago, when a Slam subscriber wrote a letter with his own snatches of hip hop poetry: _Been booin’ at Ewing since ninety-two His game duller than Will Purdue’s_ ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-name-dropped-in-songs/594168/3 "2011-08-26T12:37:36Z")
[Van Lingle Mungo](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKzobTlF8fM) probably has the most athlete’s name drops in a single song, but I don’t think anyone there was mentioned elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-name-dropped-in-songs/594168/4 "2011-08-26T12:49:14Z")
The leaders in this category are certainly baseball players. Just as baseball generates the most books, there are a _lot_ of baseball songs. (I like the nine-volume CD series _Diamond Cuts_ myself, but that’s hardly exhaustive.) I’d guess Jackie Robinson gets the most checks. Outside baseball, yes, basketball references in hip-hop, presumably led by Michael Jordan. ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-name-dropped-in-songs/594168/5 "2011-08-26T12:54:38Z")
The flip side is poor, unnoticed hockey players; I can think of only one mainstream, non-hockey centric song dropping a name - Kid Rock’s _Wasting Time_. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-name-dropped-in-songs/594168/6 "2011-08-26T12:55:41Z")
> [@Drain\_Bead](#): > > Joe DiMaggio is in “Mrs. Robinson.” Joe DiMaggio is also mentioned in Vogue. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-name-dropped-in-songs/594168/7 "2011-08-26T13:37:53Z")
DiMaggio is also mentioned in Tim Curry’s “I Do the Rock,” circa 1979, along with several others, incl. Virginia Wade, Pistol Pete (Maravich), OJ (Simpson) and Knute Rockne. ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-name-dropped-in-songs/594168/8 "2011-08-26T13:43:19Z")
G Love has a song about schoolyard basketball. Dominique, Magic, Bird and Dr J are all mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-name-dropped-in-songs/594168/9 "2011-08-26T13:43:46Z")
From Steve Poltz’s “Silver Lining”: \*I used to rely on luck To earn a honest buck I didn’t feel so stuck I didn’t limp around like John Kruk - ---
**Author:** ![Chicagojeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b19c9b/32.png) [@Chicagojeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicagojeff)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-name-dropped-in-songs/594168/10 "2011-08-26T13:45:12Z")
Mike Tyson… LL COOL J… "Icing em like tyson I’m a soldier at war… " ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-name-dropped-in-songs/594168/11 "2011-08-26T13:55:59Z")
John Fogerty’s “Centerfield” mentions real baseball stars Mays, Cobb, and DiMaggio, as well as the fictional Casey. ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-name-dropped-in-songs/594168/12 "2011-08-26T14:08:36Z")
Song for Sonny Liston -Mark Knopfler Black Superman -Johnny Wakelin & The Kinshasa Band (Muhammad Ali) Hurricane -Bob Dylan (Rubin “Hurricane” Carter) Who Killed Davey Moore -Bob Dylan ---
**Author:** ![Daerlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Daerlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daerlyn)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-name-dropped-in-songs/594168/13 "2011-08-26T14:30:27Z")
Bill Barilko of the Toronto Maple Leafs (1947 to 1951) has an entire Tragically Hip song devoted to him, ‘50 Mission Cap’. ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-name-dropped-in-songs/594168/14 "2011-08-26T14:34:45Z")
> [@Chicagojeff](#): > > Mike Tyson.. LL COOL J.. "Icing em like tyson I’m a soldier at war.. " Tyson is in the title role in the frankly weak DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince song “I Think I Could Beat Mike Tyson”. Joe Pernice did a little better with his “Pega Luna Manny” (Ramirez) and “The Ballad of Bjorn Borg.” ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-name-dropped-in-songs/594168/15 "2011-08-26T14:40:22Z")
House of Pain’s “Jump Around” includes the great line, “I’ll serve your ass like John McEnroe.” On the \*\*\*Born to Laugh at Tornadoes \*\*\*album by Was (Not Was), Ozzy Osbourne does a rap number entitled “Shake Your Head.” It includes the line, “You can’t hit homers like Babe Ruth, can’t put your finger on the truth.” ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-name-dropped-in-songs/594168/16 "2011-08-26T14:47:15Z")
> [@Drain\_Bead](#): > > Rod Carew is in two–“Sure Shot” and “The Hanukkah Song”. Other Beastie Boys name drops include Anthony Mason (“Do It”) and Hawthorne Wingo (former Knick mentioned in “B-Boy Bouillabaisse”). ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-name-dropped-in-songs/594168/17 "2011-08-26T14:49:12Z")
Billy Joel is a big sports fan, and has dropped a few names. In “Zanzibar,” he mentions Pete Rose. “Rose, he knows he’s such a credit to the game, but the Yankees grab the headlines every time.” And in “We Didn’t Start the Fire,” Billy mentions Joe Dimaggio, Sugar Ray (Robinson), (Rocky) Marciano, (Roy) Campanella, Mickey Mantle, (Sonny) Liston, and (Floyd) Patterson. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-name-dropped-in-songs/594168/18 "2011-08-26T14:54:03Z")
Another House of Pain track, “Top of the Morning to Ya,” mentions auto racing legend Mario Andretti. “Put the gear in, now you’re steerin’, like Mario Andretti.” ---
**Author:** ![G0sp3l](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@G0sp3l](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G0sp3l)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-name-dropped-in-songs/594168/19 "2011-08-26T15:03:57Z")
Southern Rappers, Dem Franchise Boyz ‘Ridin Rims’ mentions LeBron and Jordan ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-name-dropped-in-songs/594168/20 "2011-08-26T15:04:27Z")
In the hit “Promiscuous,” Nelly Furtado paid tribute to her fellow Canadian, basketball star Steve Nash. “Is that the truth or are you talking trash? Is your game MVP like Steve Nash?” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-name-dropped-in-songs/594168.md?page=2)