Terry Cashman (born Dennis Minogue, July 5, 1941, in New York) is a record producer and singer-songwriter, best known for his 1981 hit, "Talkin' Baseball." While the song is well recognized today, it was all but ignored by typical Top 40 radio during its chart life, making only the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart.
Career
Cashman was the lead singer for a band called The Chevrons in the late 1950s through the early 1960s. He also played Minor League Baseball in the Detroit Tigers organization at around the same time.
In 1967, Cashman teamed up with Gene Pistilli and Tommy West to form the pop-folk group Cashman, Pistilli and West. Their debut album, Bound to Happen (1967), included the Cashman-Pistilli composition "Sunday Will Never Be the Same", a #9 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 for Spanky and Our Gang that year and #7 in Canada.
Cashman, Pistilli and West also had a #22 hit single (#15 in Canada), "Medicine Man", under the name The Buchanan Brothers. The follow-up "Son of a Lovin' Man" hit #50 in Canada.
In the fall of 1972, Cashman & West's song "American City Suite" hit #27 on Billboard's chart and #25 on the Canadian RPM charts. Cashman, Pistilli and West (later reduced to Cashman & West) enjoyed modest success, recording six albums through 1975. The Cashman-West team also produced all the hit recordings of singer-songwriter Jim Croce. In 1975 they launched Lifesong Records, which would have hits including "Shannon" by Henry Gross and "Ariel" by Dean Friedman.
Inspired by a picture he had received of Willie Mays, Duke Snider, Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle, Cashman decided to write a song dedicated to 1950s baseball. The popular choral refrain in the song "Talkin' Baseball" — "Willie, Mickey, and The Duke" — immediately struck a chord with fans in 1981 who were disappointed by the Major League Baseball strike that summer.
Cashman has since recorded multiple versions of the song for different Major League Baseball teams. Because of this, he is now known as "The Balladeer of Baseball". He also recorded a parody of the song in 1992, "Talkin' Softball," for the end credits The Simpsons episode "Homer at the Bat."
National Honors
The Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum honored Cashman in summer 2011 as part of its induction weekend. Cashman performed his ballpark anthem once again during ceremonies on July 23, 2011, a day before Roberto Alomar, Bert Blyleven and Pat Gillick were inducted.
In 2011, he was inducted into the Irish American Baseball Hall of Fame.
[ Source: Wikipedia ]