That's the Way Downloads Go: Now You Can Own Merle Haggard's Ron Washington Song

I listen to something from this recording of Merle Haggard at the Longhorn Ballroom back in 1982, oh, probably once a week; never do get tired of "Mama Tried" or "Tulare Dust." And I still have that whole series of "That's the Way Baseball Go" T-shirts dating back to the...

By Robert Wilonsky

August 9, 2011

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I listen to something from this recording of Merle Haggard at the Longhorn Ballroom back in 1982, oh, probably once a week; never do get tired of "Mama Tried" or "Tulare Dust." And I still have that whole series of "That's the Way Baseball Go" T-shirts dating back to the glorious fall of 2010. Just never thought about putting the two together.

Then, I'm not Texas Rangers co-chairman Bob Simpson.

Simpson and wife Janice, along with Jim Hodges and Jackson Yandell of Fort Worth, thought it might be fun to write a song in honor of Rangers skipper Ron Washington, who last night watched Matt Harrison become the fifth pitcher on the team to notch his 10th win of the season -- remarkable. They set their ditty, using Wash's catchphrase, to a familiar song: Merle Haggard's "That's the Way Love Goes." (Which is technically a Lefty Frizzell song. But Hag won the Grammy, so there's that.) Anyway. Because he's Bob Simpson, he done went and got Haggard to perform it, singing lyrics like, "Cloudy days or skies of blue, some you win and some you lose/Losin' makes me sorry, ain't no need to worry/No matter what we love the game, that's the way baseball go."

The song bowed at the Ballpark over the weekend, at which point the Rangers said it'd be available for download on iTunes soon enough, with the proceeds going toward the Texas Rangers Baseball Foundation. John Blake sends word: It's available now. I bought mine. Catchy like Josh Hamilton.

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