Terry Cashman
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Terry Cashman (born Dennis Minogue, 5 July 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.
Cashman was the lead singer for a band called The Chevrons in the late 1950s. 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 successful debut album, Bound to Happen (1967) included the Cashman and Pistilli composition "Sunday Will Never Be the Same", a hit for Spanky and Our Gang which reached #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1967. Cashman, Pistilli and West enjoyed modest success, recording 6 albums before disbanding in 1975.
Cashman and Pistilli also had a #27 hit single "Medicine Man", under the name The Buchanan Brothers. Cashman and West jointly produced efforts by Jim Croce in the early 1970s and by Henry Gross, who sang "Shannon" in 1976.
Inspired by a picture he had received of Willie Mays, Duke Snider, 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 later redone this song with new lyrics for most of the Major League teams, still featuring the "Talkin' Baseball" refrain. He did a parody of the song, Talkin' Softball, for an episode of The Simpsons, called "Homer at the Bat." The song plays over the closing credits.
