Now I’m not blaming him for not anticipating the runner to try to steal third base (see Error #5), but the pitcher should try to do everything he can to give his outfielders a chance to try to throw out the runner at home should the batter hit a clean single. If the centerfielder doesn’t bobble the ball, the batter would have bee thrown out at second, and the inning is over.Įrror 4: (by the Pitcher) The pitcher does not check the runner at second to keep him close. Rizzuto initially believes the batter is out, which implies that it was a very close play. Despite the bobble, the outfielder makes a strong throw to second base. This is the only error in this sequence that would be scored an error in the boxscore. Any other case, the batter would be called out, and the inning would be over, and we would go to the top of the 10th inning.Įrror 3: (by the Center Fielder) The outfielder bobbles the ball. Even with this said, the batter was extremely lucky to be called safe at second base. That the fielder had to field the ball while on the run would be the impetus needed for the batter to press his luck. Most likely whichever one was the opposite field, and the fielder did not expect the batter to pull the ball. Thus, we can infer that the centerfielder was not playing the batter straight away and was positioned in one of the gaps, either left-center or right-center field. HOWEVER, since the batter is known for speed, we can assume that he has very little power. No player, no matter how fast he is, can get to second base on a line drive to center field. Rizzuto says, “This boy can really fly,” which implies that the batter’s primary skill is his speed. We can conclude that the pitcher gave up a mistake pitch.Įrror 2: (by the Batter) The batter tries to stretch a single into a double. The batter got the sweet spot of the bat on the ball. Not a mistake in and by itself, except that this hit was “a line shot up the middle.” This implies that this was not a fluke, seeing-eye single. I will list them in order:Įrror 1: (by the Pitcher) The pitcher gives up a base hit. Let us count all of thing mistakes made on the baseball diamond. The first thing Rizzuto does in the song is to describe the game’s situation, “Two outs, nobody on, no score, bottom of the ninth.” Keep all of this in mind when we describe the sequence of events in order to realize how big the physical and mental errors are.
#Paradise by the dashboard light full#
If we do, we would conclude that the song is even more brilliant that it’s given credit for since the baseball events are so absurd and full of so many errors by everyone involved – from the players, to the coaches and managers, that the baseball sequence is also a metaphor for the monumental errors in judgement that the boy is going to commit all for the sake of sexual pleasure.
Let’s do a thought experiment and imagine that Phil was broadcasting a real-life major league baseball game. But no one has ever taken this at face value. For his part, Rizzuto always claimed that he had no idea what his role was really about in this song until he heard the finished product.Īs a metaphor, the bridge makes perfect sense. The songwriter, Jim Steinman uses the common (in America) baseball euphemism to describe the progression of the couple’s make-out session. There is no mistaking that Rizzuto’s words are 100% euphemism for sex. In the background, we hear the couple engaged in some heavy foreplay. It is a fictional baseball play-by-play account announced by famed New York Yankees announcer Phil Rizzuto. The real reason why the song is so beloved is the spoken word bridge at the start of part 2. The transition between these polar opposite emotions occurs in part two, where the girl (sung by Ellen Foley) issues an ultimatum, “Before we going any further… will you love me forever? … Will you make me your wife?” The boy tries to stall and dodge the question, “Let me sleep on it,” but the girl will have none of that and presses for an answer. But in part three, the singer is regretful and miserable and prays for the end of time.
Part one describes the beginning of the date night, as the singer is all happy-go-lucky. The song, like many 70’s classic rock songs, is divided into three parts. There really isn’t much wiggle room when it comes to interpreting the Meat Loaf classic rock opus, “Paradise by the Dashboard Light.” It is a cautionary tale about a seventeen-year-old boy who makes a rueful, life-altering decision in order to satisfy his virginal libido.
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