"Van Lingle Mungo"
July 27, 2007 9:48 AM   Subscribe

"Van Lingle Mungo" written in 1969 by the nostalgic, baseball-loving jazz composer David Frishberg [wiki]. [Rhapsody link to the whole song.] Frishberg on meeting the ex-Dodgers hurler after whom he named his tune: “Backstage, Mungo asked me when he would see some remuneration for the song. When he heard my explanation about how there was unlikely to be any remuneration for anyone connected with the song, least of all him, he was genuinely downcast. ‘But it’s my name,’ he said. I told him, ‘The only way you can get even is to go home and write a song called Dave Frishberg.’" Further elaboration: The Baseball Analysts on "Van Lingle Mungo."
posted by kosem (11 comments total) 6 users marked this as a favorite
 
See also "The Baseball Music Project" Program Notes, about 3/4 the way down.
posted by kosem at 9:48 AM on July 27, 2007


Surprisingly, Mungo is only #95 on the list of the "100 Great Pagelanders" (Pageland, SC, that is).
posted by kosem at 9:52 AM on July 27, 2007


Is it summertime?
posted by klangklangston at 10:14 AM on July 27, 2007


(Sorry, it was stuck in my head from the word "Mungo." I had to let it out.)
posted by klangklangston at 10:14 AM on July 27, 2007


OK, I think I've figured it out. Incredibly, this guy's first name was "Van Lingle". And a "Pagelander" is someone from Pageland, South Carolina (which you note, but the abbreviation only added to my confusion).
posted by DU at 10:33 AM on July 27, 2007


Nice! Baseball names are great—I always had a soft spot for Frenchy Bordagaray from Coalinga, California.
posted by languagehat at 10:46 AM on July 27, 2007


Best baseball name EVER. Vinegar Bend Mizell is close, but since Vinegar Bend is a nickname, I gotta give it to Van Lingle Mungo.
posted by pdb at 10:50 AM on July 27, 2007


OK, I think I've figured it out.

Yeah, it is a little cryptic. Unfortunately, these links aren't the most accessible. I just love the song.
posted by kosem at 11:12 AM on July 27, 2007


Holy smokes, this jogged a memory from my childhood, one of my earliest sports books mentioned this, and I hadn't thought of it for probably 30 years. Thanks for the blast from the past.
posted by vito90 at 12:01 PM on July 27, 2007


The Great American Baseball Card Flipping, Trading and Bubble Gum Book mentions the song, getting the words and the album name wrong -- but the refrain was enough to stick in my head for, indeed, the last two decades.

What a great and unforgettable book. It's a sensory experience, really. Crazy page colors and bright baseball cards from the olden days, with anecdotes and commentary.

By and by, the book went out of my possession, and I tried in vain for years to remember the name of the composer, thinking it was Dan Fogerty or something. So I'm quite glad this random post appeared!
posted by Jubal Kessler at 7:19 AM on July 28, 2007


‘The only way you can get even is to go home and write a song called Dave Frishberg.’"

Silly man. Nothing rhymes with Frishberg.
posted by GrammarMoses at 7:35 AM on July 28, 2007


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