Good-bye, Paul Leka: Writer of sports anthem ‘Na Na Hey Hey’ dies

Most of my childhood memories, as they relate to baseball, involve playing the song "Na Na Hey Hey (Kiss Him Good-Bye)" in my head. Today, it has become an anthem sung by many fans in different sports in order to taunt an opponent who is on his way out of the game. Fans at Rangers Ballpark have chanted it at the Cardinals during the World Series. But when I was a kid, it was mostly played at Chicago White Sox games by Comiskey Park organist Nancy Faust. And the fans sung along, to serenade a pitcher who's being pulled from a game, or to cheer a home run ("kiss it good-bye") hit by the South Side. One of the song's main composers, Paul Leka, died Oct. 12, the New York Times reported Sunday. He was 68, his life shortened by lung cancer. He also wrote "Green Tambourine," a great hippie anthem from the late '60s. The Times' obit spins a neat tale of how "Na Na Hey Hey" came to be, but how the song transcended from the radio and 8-t...