Come to think of it, the Beasties also mentioned Andretti in “Shadrach:”
“Jerry Lee Swaggert or Jerry Lee Falwell
You’re like Mario Andretti 'cause he always drives a car well.”
And there’s this great lyrics from “Hey Ladies:”
“I got more hits than Sadaharu Oh.”
Steppin into the jam and i’m slammin’ like Shaquille… and madboy grips the microphone with a fist full of steel!
Fist full of steel - Rage Against the Machine (dang their first record was great)
“Shirley” by L7: Shirley Muldowney.
“Mama Said Knock You Out” by LL Cool J: Muhammad Ali.
"How Forever Feels: by Kenny Chesney: Richard Petty.
Dylan did a song about Catfish Hunter that appears on The Bootleg Series Vol. 1-3.
Mario Andretti is also mentioned in Gwen Stefani’s “Crash.”
Peter Hammill, “(No More) The Sub-Mariner”: “With cricket bat I saw myself as Peter May”
Bob Dylan, “I Shall Be Free No. 10”: “I was shadow-boxing early in the day, figured I was ready for Cassius Clay”
Ike Willis on Frank Zappa’s version of “Purple Haze”: “Isaac Hayes! Gabby Hayes! Willie Mays! Helen Hayes!”
Brooks & Dunn did a song about Dale Earnhardt called “The Intimidator.”
It’s not that good, though…
Dan Bern’s Tiger Woods namechecks and quotes Muhammad Ali. And then mentions Tiger Woods a few times too.
Ali seems to be well represented, as he also shows up during the band introductions in Ween’s Powder Blue.
On more Mario Andretti, from “The Ballad of the Uneasy Rider” by the Charlie Daniels Band:
“Mario Andretti woulda sure been proud
Of the way I was movin when I passed that crowd”
If you count references to his shoes Michael Jordan has to be the winner.
The Beastie Boys also mention Sadaharu Oh in the song “Hey Ladies”.
The “Ali” in the opening line is a reference to Mohammad Ali
Outkast - the whole world - catch a beat running like randy moss
Aaron Carter has an entire song called - How I Beat Shaq
If anyone wants to take the question up as a challenge, I’ll bet Jackie Robinson against anyone.
Another Mario Andretti in…was it “Opposites Attract”? Some crappy Paula Abdul song.
Run DMC’s “You Be Illin’”:
Today you won a ticket to see Doctor J
Front row seat – it’s free – no pay
Are you thinking of Amy Grant’s “Good For Me”?
You like to drive
Like Mario Andretti
I like it takin’ my time
So, just skimming through the thread, I think that’s 3 for Andretti and 3 for DiMaggio.
ETA I don’t think I’ve heard the song “Good For Me”, but I’m fairly sure I could sing all the lyrics to Opposites Attract (if it was on) and I don’t recall any athletes being named in it.
Not dropping a particular athlete’s name but there’s a sports reference in “One Week” by the Barenaked Ladies. The last line of the song is “Birchmount Stadium home of the Robbie”.
Birchmount Stadium in Scarborough, Ontario is where they play the annual Robbie International Soccer Tournament, which is a charity tournament for youth soccer.
Four for DiMaggio:
“I Do the Rock” - Tim Curry
“Mrs Robinson” - Simon and Garfunkel
“Vogue” - Madonna
“We Didn’t Start the Fire” - Billy Joel
According to Wikipedia, there’s also:
“DiMaggio Done It Again” - Billy Bragg and Woody Guthrie
“Joltin’ Joe DiMaggio” - Les Brown & His Band of Renown
“Captain Crash & the Beauty Queen From Mars” - Bon Jovi
“DiMaggio” - Mike Plume
“The Great Joe DiMaggio’s Card” - Abie Rotenberg
“Marilyn & Joe” - Kinky Friedman