You may recall that a couple of years ago, we introduced a little New Year's Eve "singalong" here at Batter's Box, with help from our indispensible friends at BaseballReference.com. In doing so, Hall of Names style, we linked each viable word in the lyrics of Auld Lang Syne to the name of a past or present major league baseball player.
Now, as we change the calendar year into 2008, rather than simply
revisiting that particular linkfest ode to New Year's, let's try "Another" one
(literally) and dip into the lyrics of Just Another New Year's Eve by the great, the incomparable, the truly magnificant Mr. Barry Manilow. He Writes the Songs, you know.
No, really ... here we go ...
Just Another New Year's Eve
Barry Manilow, 1977
Don't look so sad, it's not so bad you know.
It's just another night, that's all it is,
It's not the first, it's not the worst you know,
We've come through all the rest, we'll get through this.
We've made mistakes, but we've made good friends too.
Remember all the nights we spent with them?
And all our plans, who says they can't come true?
Tonight's another chance to start again.
REFRAIN
It's just another New Year's Eve,
Another night like all the rest.
It's just another New Year's Eve,
Let's make it the best.
It's just another New Year's Eve,
It's just another Auld Lang Syne,
But when we're through this New Year
You'll see, we'll be just fine.
We're not alone, we've got the world you know.
And it wo-n't let us down, just wait and see.
And we'll grow old, but think how wise we'll grow.
There's more you know, it's only New Year's Eve.
REFRAIN
It's just another New Year's Eve,
Another night like all the rest.
It's just another New Year's Eve,
Let's make it the best.
It's just another New Year's Eve,
It's just another Auld Lang Syne,
But when we're through this New Year
You'll see, we'll be just fine.
A Few Notes ... (These "notes" are of the "clarification"
type, not the Manilow "hit that high G!" type)... To fill out as much
of the song as possible with links, we did take a few liberties, though
there are no real outright gags as in past link-song efforts (though I
admit I was tempted to use "Willie Horton" for the word "who") ...
For
instance, there is no player in MLB history named "spent," so the link,
rather obviously takes us to Dave Cash
... Similarly, no players named "think" so we settled on J.D. Smart --
too much of a reach? ... Anyone surprised we found a viable excuse to
link to Joaquin Andujar?
Earlier this year,
the greatness of BaseballReference.com added minor league player pages,
greatly expanding our link options -- and yes, we did take advantage in
a number of places ... There's also never been a player with a name
anything like "Another," so we defer to the 19th century antics of
middle infielder Bob Addy (get it?) ...
There are other examples of "stretches" (Atlee Hammaker for "make"
...
well, I guess ) .... Yes, we allow use of nicknames in this approach --
that's outside usual Hall of Names protocol, but provides a number of
interesting options ... We also allow use of middle names (you knew Cy Young's given name was Denton True Young,
didn't you? ... And as in last year's effort, we allow for certain
initialized acronyms, such as the reliable Ted H. Easterly ("T.H.E.")
to fill in some holes ...
We also don't cop to the old limiting idea of
spelling uber alles, as the
use of "Weaver" for "we've" should clearly show ... Yes, that's Derek
Jeter for the word "too" (as well as its homonym, "to") -- you get that, right? ... It's probably
beyond unfair that the word "mistake" leads to Fred Merkle, a .273
hitter over two decades, but if you don't understand the reference, you
need to "bone" up on your baseball history (Magpie, over to you) ...
The biggest stretch in this linkfest is probably the word "won't" in the third stanza, which breaks to link to two players, Maury Wills and Don Nottebart ... See, Will(s)+Not(tebart) = "Won't," right? ....
Really, the point of this note is simple --
got something better? Share! The unlinked words above that cry out for your help are: remember, them, our, they, and again. But really, anything is fair name ... er game! Whatchagot?
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20071229194455371