"Van Lingle Mungo" is a song composed and performed by

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

pianist

Dave Frishberg David Lee Frishberg (March 23, 1933 – November 17, 2021) was an American jazz pianist, vocalist, composer, and lyricist. His songs have been performed by Blossom Dearie, Rosemary Clooney, Shirley Horn, Anita O'Day, Michael Feinstein, Irene Kr ...

. Frishberg wrote both the lyrics and the music. The song, released in 1969, was distributed by Red Day Division of Doramus, Inc. under

CTI Records CTI Records (Creed Taylor Incorporated) is a jazz record label founded in 1967 by Creed Taylor. CTI was a subsidiary of A&M before becoming independent in 1970. Its first album was '' A Day in the Life'' by guitarist Wes Montgomery in 1967. Th ...

. It was originally released as a single, but was later incorporated into ''Oklahoma Toad'', Frishberg's 1970 LP.

Development

Frishberg developed the melody first, but couldn't settle on lyrics, rejecting several sets of lyrics he drafted. Frishberg browsed through a copy of a baseball encyclopedia, which lists the names of players in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

. In the encyclopedia, he found the name of

Van Lingle Mungo Van Lingle Mungo (June 8, 1911 – February 12, 1985) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a right-handed pitcher from to for the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants. The five-time All-Star ...

, a name he found unusual. He later found himself humming Mungo's name to the melody. From there, Frishberg found more names in the encyclopedia that he found interesting. He proceeded to write song lyrics for the melody that included only the names of major league players and the words "and" and "big", attempting to order the names in a rhyming fashion. The song is performed in

bossa nova Bossa nova () is a style of samba developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is mainly characterized by a "different beat" that altered the harmonies with the introduction of unconventional chords and an innovativ ...

style. The players mentioned in most versions of the song, in addition to Mungo, are: * John Antonelli *

Eddie Basinski Edwin Frank Basinski (November 4, 1922 – January 8, 2022) was an American professional baseball infielder. He played in Major League Baseball for the Brooklyn Dodgers and Pittsburgh Pirates. Early life Basinski was born in Buffalo, New Yor ...

Augie Bergamo August Samuel Bergamo (February 14, 1917 – August 19, 1974) was a Major League Baseball outfielder who played for the St. Louis Cardinals in 1944 and 1945. A native of Detroit, Michigan, he stood 5'9" and weighed 165 lbs. Bergamo is one ...

Frenchy Bordagaray Stanley George "Frenchy" Bordagaray (January 3, 1910 – April 13, 2000) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as an outfielder and third baseman for the Chicago White Sox, Brooklyn Dodgers, ...

Lou Boudreau Louis Boudreau (July 17, 1917 – August 10, 2001), nicknamed "Old Shufflefoot", "Handsome Lou", and "The Good Kid", was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 15 seasons, primarily as a ...

Harry Brecheen Harry David Brecheen (, , October 14, 1914 – January 17, 2004), nicknamed "The Cat", was an American left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who played most of his career for the St. Louis Cardinals. In the late 1940s he was among the team ...

Roy Campanella Roy Campanella (November 19, 1921 – June 26, 1993), nicknamed "Campy", was an American baseball player, primarily as a catcher. The Philadelphia native played in the Negro leagues and Mexican League for nine years before entering the minor lea ...

Phil Cavarretta Philip Joseph Cavarretta (July 19, 1916 – December 18, 2010) was an American Major League Baseball first baseman, outfielder, and manager. He was known to friends and family as "Phil" and was also called "Philibuck", a nickname bestowed by ...

Frankie Crosetti Frank Peter Joseph Crosetti (October 4, 1910 – February 11, 2002) was an American baseball shortstop. Nicknamed "The Crow", he spent his entire seventeen-year Major League Baseball playing career with the New York Yankees before becoming a coach ...

* Bobby Estalella *

Ferris Fain Ferris Roy Fain (March 29, 1921 – October 18, 2001) was an American professional baseball player. He played as a first baseman in Major League Baseball from 1947 to 1955. A five-time All-Star, Fain won two American League batting championship ...

Augie Galan August John Galan (May 23, 1912 – December 28, 1993) was an American professional baseball outfielder, manager and coach. He played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from to for the Chicago Cubs, Brooklyn Dodgers, Cincinnati Reds, New ...

Danny Gardella Daniel Lewis Gardella (February 26, 1920 – March 6, 2005) was an American left fielder in Major League Baseball who played with the New York Giants (1944–45) and St. Louis Cardinals (1950). Born in New York City, he batted and threw left-han ...

Johnny Gee John Alexander "Johnny" Gee, Jr. (December 7, 1915 – January 23, 1988), sometimes known as "Long John Gee" and "Whiz", was a professional baseball and basketball player. Gee played Major League Baseball for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 19 ...

Frankie Gustine Frank William Gustine (February 20, 1920 – April 1, 1991) was an American Major League Baseball player who appeared in three All-Star Games during his 12-season (1939–50) MLB career. He spent the bulk of his tenure (1,176 games played) with ...

Stan Hack Stanley Camfield Hack (December 6, 1909 – December 15, 1979), nicknamed "Smiling Stan", was an American third baseman and manager in Major League Baseball who played his entire career for the Chicago Cubs and was the National League's top t ...

* Sig Jakucki *

Eddie Joost Edwin David Joost (June 5, 1916April 12, 2011) was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played as a shortstop in Major League Baseball for all or portions of 17 seasons between 1936 and 1955. In , Joost became the third and l ...

Whitey Kurowski George John Kurowski (April 19, 1918 – December 9, 1999) was a third baseman in Major League Baseball who played his entire career for the St. Louis Cardinals (– 49). Kurowski's childhood nickname came from his already white hair. Childhoo ...

Max Lanier Hubert Max Lanier (August 18, 1915 – January 30, 2007) was an American left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who spent most of his career with the St. Louis Cardinals. He led the National League in earned run average in 1943, and was the ...

Thornton Lee Thornton or ''variant'', may refer to: People *Thornton (surname), people with the surname ''Thornton'' *Justice Thornton (disambiguation), judges named "Thornton" *Thornton Wilder, American playwright Places Australia *Thornton, New South Wale ...

Ernie Lombardi Ernesto Natali Lombardi (April 6, 1908 – September 26, 1977), was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a catcher for the Brooklyn Robins, Cincinnati Reds, Boston Braves, and New York Giants duri ...

* "Heeney"

Hank Majeski Henry Majeski (December 13, 1916 – August 9, 1991) was an American professional baseball player, coach and minor league manager. He played as a third baseman in Major League Baseball from to for the Boston Bees/ Braves (1939–41), New York ...

Pinky May Merrill Glend "Pinky" May (January 18, 1911 – September 4, 2000) was an American professional baseball player and third baseman who appeared in 665 games in Major League Baseball for the Philadelphia Phillies from through . He later became a lo ...

Barney McCosky William Barney McCosky (April 11, 1917 – September 6, 1996) was an outfielder in Major League Baseball. From 1939 through 1953, he played for the Detroit Tigers (1939–42, 1946), Philadelphia Athletics (1946–1948, 1950–1951), Cincinnati Re ...

George McQuinn George Hartley McQuinn (May 29, 1910 – December 24, 1978) was an American professional baseball player. He played as a first baseman in Major League Baseball from to , most notably as a member of the only St. Louis Browns team to win an ...

Johnny Mize John Robert Mize (January 7, 1913 – June 2, 1993), nicknamed "Big Jawn" and "The Big Cat", was an American professional baseball player, coach and scout. He played as a first baseman in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 15 seasons between 1936 an ...

Hugh Mulcahy Hugh Noyes Mulcahy (September 9, 1913 – October 19, 2001) was an American professional baseball pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies (1935–40 and 1945–46) and Pittsburgh Pirates (1947). Mulcahy ...

Claude Passeau Claude William Passeau (April 9, 1909 – August 30, 2003) was an American starting pitcher in Major League Baseball. From 1935 through 1947, Passeau played with the Pittsburgh Pirates (1935), Philadelphia Phillies (1936–39) and Chicago Cu ...

Art Passarella Arthur Matthew Passarella (December 23, 1909 – October 12, 1981) was an American umpire in Major League Baseball, and later an actor. He worked in the American League from 1941 to 1942, and again from 1945 to 1953. He missed two years due to mil ...

Johnny Pesky John Michael Pesky (born John Michael Paveskovich; February 27, 1919 – August 13, 2012), nicknamed "The Needle" and "Mr. Red Sox", was an American professional baseball player, manager and coach. He was a shortstop and third baseman during a ...

* Howard Pollet *

Johnny Sain John Franklin "Johnny" Sain (September 25, 1917 – November 7, 2006) was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who was best known for teaming with left-hander Warren Spahn on the Boston Braves teams from 1946 to 1951. H ...

Hal Trosky Harold Arthur Trosky Sr. (born Harold Arthur Trojovsky; November 11, 1912 – June 18, 1979) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a first baseman for the Cleveland Indians (1933–1941) and the Chica ...

Johnny Vander Meer John Samuel Vander Meer (November 2, 1914 – October 6, 1997) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a left-handed pitcher, most prominently as a member of the Cincinnati Reds where he became the only ...

Eddie Waitkus Edward Stephen Waitkus (September 4, 1919 – September 16, 1972) was a Lithuanian American first baseman in Major League Baseball who had an 11-year career (1941, 1946–1955). He played for the Chicago Cubs and Philadelphia Phillies in the ...

Early Wynn Early Wynn Jr. (January 6, 1920 – April 4, 1999), nicknamed "Gus", was an American professional baseball right-handed pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Washington Senators, Cleveland Indians, and Chicago White Sox, dur ...

The list of names is a mixture of well-known players and more obscure ones, all of whom played in the majors during the 1940s (and many of whom also played in parts of the 30s and/or 50s). Boudreau, Campanella, Lombardi, Mize, and Wynn are all in the Hall Of Fame, and several others also had very long and successful careers. Among the more obscure players are Bergamo (who played in only two seasons, the fewest of any of the players mentioned), and Gee (who appeared in parts of six seasons, but played in only 44 games, the fewest of any of the players mentioned.) In the original recording there is one name,

, who was an umpire rather than a player. In later recordings, the name of Roy Campanella is substituted in for Passarella. In the later ''Retromania: At The

Jazz Bakery The Jazz Bakery is a not-for-profit arts presenter in Los Angeles that has showcased many of the world's most acclaimed jazz artists since it was founded by jazz vocalist Ruth Price in 1992. History Price, President & Artistic Director of the ...

'' album, Frishberg changed it back to Passarella. On an early recording that coincided with the release of the ''Oklahoma Toad'' album, Frishberg replaces the mellifluous Lou Boudreau and Claude Passeau with

Virgil Trucks Virgil Oliver "Fire" Trucks (April 26, 1917 – March 23, 2013) was an American Major League Baseball pitcher with the Detroit Tigers, St. Louis Browns, Chicago White Sox, Kansas City Athletics and New York Yankees between 1941 and 1958. He batted ...

and

Johnny Kucks John Charles Kucks (July 27, 1932 – October 31, 2013) was a pitcher for the New York Yankees and Kansas City Athletics in Major League Baseball. In 1952, he was signed as an amateur free agent. Johnny Kucks won the final game of the 1956 World ...

. With the death of John Antonelli (usually listed as "Johnny") on February 28, 2020, Eddie Basinski became the last surviving player mentioned in the song. Basinski died on January 8, 2022.

Reception

Jazz critic and author

Ira Gitler Ira Gitler (December 18, 1928 – February 23, 2019) was an American jazz historian and journalist. The co-author of ''The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz'' with Leonard Feather—the most recent edition appeared in 1999—he wrote hundreds of ...

considers "Van Lingle Mungo" as "one of the best jazz works of the 70s and certainly the best ever done combining jazz and baseball." The song has been entered in the National Baseball Library, a section of the

National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-r ...

Cooperstown, New York Cooperstown is a village in and county seat of Otsego County, New York, United States. Most of the village lies within the town of Otsego, but some of the eastern part is in the town of Middlefield. Located at the foot of Otsego Lake in the C ...

. "Van Lingle Mungo" was included in '' Baseball's Greatest Hits'', a 1990 compilation of baseball-themed songs. Mungo and his wife reported that they both enjoyed the song.

References

External links

* {{cite web, author=MajorSwingMusic, url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKzobTlF8fM, title=Van Lingle Mungo, date=April 17, 2009, access-date=November 28, 2016, via=YouTube 1969 songs Baseball songs and chants American jazz songs Songs about baseball players Cultural depictions of baseball players Cultural depictions of American men Bossa nova songs