Tonight’s Boston Pops concert (part of the ongoing OoP day celebrations) featured music from the Baseball Music Project, including a 1969 novelty song called Van Lingle Mungo.  Far funnier in theory than in execution, the song’s lyrics consist entirely of the names of 1940s baseball players – particularly those that sound funny.  The first verse:

Heeney Majeski
Johnny Gee
Eddie Joost
Johnny Pesky
Thornton Lee
Danny Gardella
Van Lingle Mungo

The author, David Frishberg, got to perform the song for Van Lingle Mungo himself, who griped that he wouldn’t get any money despite his name being the title and the refrain:

“When he heard my explanation about how there was unlikely to be any remuneration for anyone connected with the song, least of all him, he was genuinely downcast. ‘But it’s my name,’ he said.  I told him, ‘The only way you can get even is to go home and write a song called Dave Frishberg.'”

They also performed a far more entertaining song titled Let’s Keep the Dodgers in Brooklyn, accompanied by slides of the team.  Tip for the future: don’t show slides of a Brooklyn team wearing what is, in the end, the Red Sox insignia on their caps.  We’re easily confused about that sort of thing.