SINGER-SONGWRITER Howie Newman, a longtime Melrose resident, recently released his third CD of baseball songs.

 

MELROSE — Longtime Melrose resident Howie Newman is a real baseball fan.

He was a sportswriter for 18 years (including a stint with a local Melrose newspaper), covering hundreds of Red Sox games and two World Series. He still goes to the ballpark regularly, follows the sport intensely and embraces its rich history. Newman has been to 99 major and minor league ballparks, 26 World Series games and three All-Star games.

Not only that, but he’s written and recorded 16 baseball songs.

His latest collection, “Baseball’s Greatest Hits, Volume 3,” recalls some of the game’s memorable, and most quirky, moments, such as Atlanta pitcher Tony Cloninger hitting two grand slams in one game, Harvey Haddix pitching 12 perfect innings for the Pirates and Mike Hessman setting the minor-league home run mark.

The recently released EP also includes songs about baseball’s most unusual pitch (“Knuckleball,” which is dedicated to the memory of Tim Wakefield) and the long off-season of disappointment for the 1978 Red Sox (“Wait Until Next Year”).

“Baseball lends itself to song more than any other sport,” explained Newman, a singing guitarist. “It’s probably the slow, deliberate pace, which enables fans to fully understand and identify players and dramatic situations.

“Baseball also has an amazing history, the best nicknames and most distinctive jargon. It’s a songwriter’s nirvana. For me, anyway.”

 

Backed by electric guitar, drums, bass, piano, fiddle, mandolin and other instruments, Newman embraces country, rock and folk in this lively five-song compilation. Like his two previous baseball releases, Baseball’s Greats Hits, Volume 3 has been accepted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame Archive in Cooperstown, N.Y.

“Songwriters tend to incorporate life experiences into their work,” said Newman, who has performed at Memorial Hall, the Summer Stroll and the Melrose Public Library. “Baseball has been a big part of my life, as a writer and as a fan. I’ve played and coached softball for more than 50 years, too.”

About 10 years ago, he was performing an early April show at the Milano Center and many of the attendees wore Red Sox gear to celebrate the beginning of the baseball season. That gave him an idea: Why not put together a musical baseball show?

Newman carefully crafted a program that included baseball songs, trivia and stories. He has since performed more than 100 Musical Baseball Shows, including a return to the Milano Center a few years ago.

“It’s a very interactive and fun show,” he noted. “I’ve also met a lot of interesting people with their own baseball stories.”

For more information about Baseball’s Greatest Hits, Volume 3, visit howienewman.com/bgh3. Go to howienewman.com/baseball-show for details about his baseball shows.