"The National Pastime" is an original song introduced in the first episode of the first season of the musical TV series Smash, entitled "Pilot".
The song was written by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman,[1] but in the show's universe, it was written by songwriting duo Tom Levitt (Christian Borle) and Julia Houston (Debra Messing) for their Marilyn Monroe musical Bombshell.
The song was originally released as a single at digital music retailers and is available as a track on the cast album Bombshell.
DFW.com describes the number as "Marilyn, now in love with Joe DiMaggio, tries to 'understand' baseball in a song laced with double-entendres".
"[7] DFW.com comments that "the song is staged with the razzmatazz that marks the best Broadway numbers, and when Hilty and a group of male dancers perform it, Smash begins to catch fire.