"The Greatest" is a song written by

Don Schlitz Donald Alan Schlitz Jr. (born August 29, 1952) is an American country music songwriter. For his songwriting efforts, Schlitz has earned two Grammy Awards, as well as four ASCAP Country Songwriter of the Year awards. In 1993, he was inducted int ...

, and recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

artist

Kenny Rogers Kenneth Ray Rogers (August 21, 1938 – March 20, 2020) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013. Rogers was particularly popular with country audiences but also charted m ...

. It was released in April 1999 as the first single from the album ''

She Rides Wild Horses ''She Rides Wild Horses'' is the twenty-third studio album by American country music singer Kenny Rogers. It was released in 1999 on his own Dreamcatcher Records label. The album includes the singles "The Greatest," "Slow Dance More" and "Buy Me a ...

''. The song reached No. 26 on the '' Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart.

Content

In the song, a little boy is outside playing baseball by himself, saying, "I'm the greatest player," and tosses the ball up in the air to hit the ball and swings and misses. The boy repeats this two more times. As his mother calls him inside for supper, the undeterred boy, in a

twist ending Twist may refer to: In arts and entertainment Film, television, and stage * ''Twist'' (2003 film), a 2003 independent film loosely based on Charles Dickens's novel ''Oliver Twist'' * ''Twist'' (2021 film), a 2021 modern rendition of ''Olive ...

, reveals his position—

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

—and thus by earning a strikeout, he is still the greatest.

Chart performance

Year-end charts

References

1999 singles 1999 songs Kenny Rogers songs Songs written by Don Schlitz Music videos directed by Shaun Silva Song recordings produced by Brent Maher Baseball songs and chants Songs about children {{1999-country-song-stub