My third Mix-Tape. This one contains songs about baseball. Most of the tracks are about specific players or teams, though others talk more generically about the game, or use baseball expressions. The music is an eclectic mix of Jazz, Blues, Country, Rock, Folk, and Celtic Punk. The tracks date from 1941 to 2013.
No starter question with this one, just download the music from one of these locations and solve the puzzle. (The tape is the same on both links; it is just incase you have problems accessing one):
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Dropbox Link
Box Link
There are 10 songs per side. Unless specified otherwise, the answer to the question is the track number. For track 10, use 0. The tracks are numbered the same on each side, it doesn't matter which side of the tape the track is on.
Questions:
1. This song is about a pitcher named Jim Hunter. (And written by Bob Dylan).
2. This song is about the first manager of the Boston Red Sox franchise (then known as the Boston Americans).
3. This song is about a player who hit in a record 56 consecutive games. His second wife was pretty famous too…
4. This song is about the Minnesota Twins.
5. In spite of his 2 MVPs and 5 gold gloves with the Atlanta Braves, this player is not in the Hall of Fame.
6. This song is about the first black player to play in the Major Leagues. He's a Hall of Famer, and was a great player.
7. On the surface, this song is about an open-air museum located in Yankee Stadium. But really it is about Yankees outfielder Bernie Williams, and the absence of a monument for him - though he is not mentioned by name. Since the song was recorded, a monument to Bernie was added (in 2015.) Also, interesting to note that Bernie Williams is also a jazz musician; with 2 albums released to date. An example track here:
Bernie Williams the Musician
8. This song is traditionally played during the 7th inning stretch.
9. This song is about a Hall of Fame player who played with the New York / San Francisco Giants, and hit 660 career home runs.
10. This song mentions going “Up from Third Base to Huntington”. Note “Huntington” being the Huntington Avenue Grounds, and “Third Base” being "McGreevy's 3rd Base Saloon". The Boston Red Sox played at the Huntington Avenue Grounds prior to the opening of Fenway Park in 1912. The first-ever World Series baseball game was held in 1903 here. Today, a sports centre belonging to Northeastern University (where I attended) is on the site. As for McGreevy's 3rd Base Saloon, it closed with Prohibition in 1920 and didn’t reopen until 2008.
11. The chorus of this song especially mentions the first name of 3 players. Their surnames are Mays, Mantle and Snider.
12. Two of the tracks are named after a baseball position. Take the difference between their track numbers.
13. The team this song is about won the 2016 World Series – their first since 1908.
14. This song is about a former Red Sox pitcher nicknamed “Spaceman”.
15. This Red Sox hall of famer would psyche himself up for a game during batting practice, usually early practice before the fans or reporters got there. He'd go into the batting cage, wave his bat at the pitcher and start screaming at the top of his voice, "My name is .... and I'm the greatest hitter in baseball." (Parents advisory - using colourful language). Note – in my opinion, he was the greatest hitter in baseball.
16. In 1990, a compilation CD of baseball songs named “Baseball’s Greatest Hits” was released. Then in 1992, a second collection named “Baseball's Greatest Hits – Let's Play II”. Both vastly inferior to my compilation. -:) Counting both CDs, how many songs on the Mixtape appear on these CDs? Note in some cases the CDs used a version by a different artist; don't worry about that. If the song appears, it counts. Also, one song on the tape appears twice on the CD, only count it once.
You should now have 16 answers (each a single digit). Put them in the order of the questions given as a keyword into Certitude, and if correct you will be given the coordinates, as well as a hint.
You can validate your puzzle solution with certitude.
Baseball Cards
As SWAG, I have included some mint condition vintage (1988) Donruss baseball cards. I loved baseball cards as a kid, though I never became a serious collector. When I was a kid, there was just one brand - "Topps" - and the cards came with a stick of bubblegum. In 1981, new brands (Fleer, Donruss) came to the market, they did not include gum. Topps stopped including gum in 1992. The gum was horrible - a brittle stick - but I liked the smell it gave the cards!
Rare cards can fetch big money - the highest price ever paid for a baseball card was for a 1909 Honus Wagner – $2.8 Million! The most valuable "modern" card is a 1952 Mickey Mantle at $525,000. The most valuable Ted Williams card is "only" worth $15,000. As Ted would say, "Why do they like him better than me?". You can trade items for cards in the cache, or please feel free to take a card even if you have nothing to swap. Or just take a look at them.. but try and keep them nice! Oh, and how much is the most valuable 1988 Donruss card worth? That would be $2.50, for Tom Glavine's rookie card.
The difficulty rating refers to the puzzle. Which isn't really difficult, but takes a little effort. The final should be an easy find, though tree cover might be an issue. The terrain reflects the route to the cache, which will involve hills whichever way you go, and also the final requires navigating a steepish bank. But nothing too strenuous, I managed it!
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It seems I'm in good company. In 2006, Bob Dylan did a radio show of baseball themed songs! Baseball Hour