Name: The Ballad of Mike Hessman (Minor League Home Run King)
Duration: P00H03M14S
Description: It’s about a guy who set the all-time minor league record for home runs. Was this a blessing or a curse?

The Ballad of Mike Hessman (Minor League Home Run King)

from When You're Happy by Howie Newman

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about

It’s about a guy who set the all-time minor league record for home runs. Was this a blessing or a curse?

lyrics

If you mention Mike Hessman, that name might not ring a bell
But he’s a legend in his own right with a grand story to tell
He hit more home runs than any minor leaguer ever did
It took dedication, heart and soul, and a ton of grit

He just kept playing ’cause he loved it, living out his dream
Playing baseball for a living ever since he was eighteen
The years flew by just like the wind, he never lost that thirst
Becoming minor league home run king
Was a blessing and curse

It started out in Macon, young Mike just had no fear
1997, he hit 21 that year
Danville, Greenville and Myrtle Beach along the way
The homers kept a-coming on the road to Triple-A

The year that Mike tuned thirty, he was still in Triple-A
Then thirty-one and thirty-two, the time just slipped away
He played in Mexico and Japan, Venezuela, too
Sixteen teams in twenty years ’til fin’lly he was through

Did Mike ever make the majors? The answer is yes
He had cups of coffee with the Braves, the Tigers and the Mets
Fourteen big-league homers, five seasons in the show
With a little luck, he might’ve stuck. I guess we’ll never know

credits

from When You're Happy, released December 15, 2016
Howie: acoustic guitar, lead and backup vocals, harmonica
Tim Ray: piano
Todd Glacy: drums
Rob Ignazio bass, electric guitar

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Howie Newman Melrose, Massachusetts

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