Tom Russell - Kid from SpavinawLyrics

I was born in Oklahoma, 1931 Outside the town of Spavinaw Where the red dust clouds the sun And I ran beneath your diamond skies And I drank your waves of grain My name is Mickey Mantle, boys And baseball is my game My father's name was "Mutt", boy And he worked down in the mines He pitched to me in the evening At least a thousand times A thousand times again, in my nightmare and my dreams You're going to live in the house that Ruth built, kid You're going to make that Yankee team Sure enough, the Yankee scout comes drivin', Right down route 66 He'd have never come to Spavinaw class D ball in the sticks, But I happened to be playing in an old wood ball park Way out on the mother road That Yankee scout he signed me and I went up to the the show Strike 1, that was the drinkin' Strike 2, there go the knees Then my old man died in Denver Some type of lung disease When God starts throwing change ups You can't swing with fame or wealth If I'd known I's going to live this long I'd have taken care of myself. I don't miss the lights of Times Square I don't miss Toots Shore's bar I miss my old man pitchin' baseball Near the shed in our backyard I wish that he were still alive To see these trophies on my shelf If I'd known I was going to live this long I'd have taken better care of myself I was born in Oklahoma, 1931 Outside the town of Spavinaw Where the red dust clouds the sun