Another Gray Area

Baseball at the Rock Hall: Let's play two

Listening stations will feature musical tributes to Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Lou Gehrig, Jackie Robinson, Willie Mays, Larry Doby, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle and other players over the years as well as rock songs with baseball references -- Chuck Berry's "Brown Eyed Handsome Man," Simon and Garfunkel's "Mrs. Robinson" and John Fogerty's "Centerfield."

Other artifacts include: sheet music for the 1911 version of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame"; baseball cards representing players who also had music careers, like Denny McLain (Detroit) and Jack McDowell (Cleveland); and signed balls and bats from the 1997 American League champion Cleveland Indians, members of whom performed at yearly "TribeJam" charity rock concerts with Omar Vizquel on drums and Mark Langston on guitar.

There also will be interviews with current players like Grady Sizemore and Travis Hafner, who talk about why they picked the songs that represent them when they come to bat at Progressive Field.

“Take Me Out: Baseball Rocks!” will be on display throughout the summer at the Rock Hall. In honor of the opening, click on the links to hear two of my favorite versions of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame." Diehard Twins’ fans The Hold Steady have their version on their MySpace page. And scroll down the news archives link to Backstreets magazine to download a real rarity: a version of the song as if it was performed by Bruce Springsteen. It was the B-side to a 45 released in the early ‘80s. The A-Side is a Springsteen-esque version of the theme from “The Flintstones,” complete with an opening rap about flippin’ dino burgers and working at the quarry.