Featuring: Bow Wow Lil’ Zane Lil Wayne

Songwriter: Leon Huff Lil’ Zane Lil Wayne Jermaine Dupri

Producer: Jermaine Dupri LaMarquis Jefferson

Throw me the ball and watch me what I do with it
We got Bow Wow in the house
My man Lil' Zane - huh, and Lil' Wayne
Sammie sing to me

[Hook 1: (Sammie)]
Strike one, caught you by surprise
Strike two, right before your eyes
Pitch three, this one's to the wall
Ain't no game like a game of Hardball

[Verse 1: Lil' Bow Wow]
When I step to the plate the outfield gets back (back)
Cause they know I'm the over the wall type of dog
So many back to back hits they call me little Sammy Sosa
Bubble gum cards and all the posters
Y'all know, how I roast ya when it's time to compete
On the field, on the court, over any hot beat
Or break, and you know it when you see your clone
And right now that's all I see goin on, holla at me
Game time, all I think about is bringin home the trophy
If your team is better mine, you really gotta show me
Really gotta beat me, really gotta trash talk
Mistreat me, and send my squad back home
Cause I don't know lose too much
Matter fact, I ain't never lost at all
When I'm playin Hardball (that's right)
So, if you on the mound about to pitch to me
Understand I'm like Griffey, I keep 'em to the wall

[Hook 2: (Sammie)]
Strike one, caught you by surprise
Strike two, right before your eyes
Strike three, ohh I got you out
Without a doubt, I got you out
Strike one, caught you by surprise
Strike two, right before your eyes
Pitch three, this one's to the wall
Ain't no game like a game of Hardball

[Verse 2: Lil' Zane]
This goes out to them jocks that stay on my jock, throwin the pop
Keep pitchin, I'm in the kitchen makin radio rock
It's usually preferred, I be choosy with all my words
Throwin eggs at them chickenheads, beggin on the curb
Direct from my burb, a fast baller with a curve
Have her slidin home, tellin her friends just in the third
I'm sure ya done heard, who I'm doin and what I'm doin
What's false and what's true and.. (girl listen)
When it comes to this game they call me Zane McGwire
That other kid was just a Mark, so I made him retire
See we all got a base, and we hold our own
But when I - come up to bat, we all goin come home
And our fans cheers us on cause they know what the drill is
Goin, out of the field into your automobile
And I hope it ain't your Range Rover that you spent your change over
I'm in the dugout with my tongue out player game over

[Hook 2: (Sammie)]

[Verse 3: Lil' Wayne]
Listen, listen, listen
They call me young Wheezy Rodriguez
You know I'm gettin it hot as the bullet that (killed) Kennedy, y'know
And I keep the chrome bat swingin, slingin that iron
Pitch on the block like Nolan Ryan
Too bad for TV, you won't see me I'm right in the streets
I'm a hustler, people, my life in the streets
Watch the game, get you wife in the sheets
My watch, my chain, and my teeth cost
That way I will never cheap talk
And I call mami sweetheart, she call me sweet daddy
And she gladly, loves the way that daddy bat it, yeah baby
Wheezy Weez a player baby, and I don't share baby
So if you searchin for some (pussy) ain't nuttin here, baby
Catch me throwin an eighty in the latest Bentley, goin out
And Wheezy never hit a foul, a Hot Guy
Don't hit pop flies, I knock it up out the park
And after the game's over we gon' meet up after dark

[Hook 2: repeat 2x (Sammie)]

Lil' Bow Wow, Lil' Zane, Lil' Wayne, Lil' Sammie
The Little Rascals, and me y'all know my name

Sammie

Contemporary R&B artist Sammie achieved commercial success in 1999 as a pre-teen, vanished from the industry almost as quickly as he’d arrived, returned several years later, and left again, only to resurface during the 2010s. Before he was even born, Sammie Leigh Bush, Jr. was exposed to music; his mother, a former professional singer, sang in the church choir while she was carrying him. That setting is where the native Floridian, at the age of four, received a standing ovation for his performance of “Troubles Don’t Last Always.” A few years later, Sammie formed a vocal group, Wonder 3, whose audition for Showtime at the Apollo led to a solo performance and subsequent triumphant finals appearance. Shortly thereafter, Joyce Irby became his manager. The former Klymaxx member matched her new client with longtime associate and producer Dallas Austin, who also signed the youngster to the Capitol subsidiary Freeworld Entertainment.

“I Like It,” a mix of throwback electro and modern pop-R&B produced by Austin, was released as Sammie’s debut single. It entered Billboard’s R&B/hip-hop chart in December 1999, eventually reached number eight, and on the Hot 100 peaked at number 24. Its parent album, From the Bottom to the Top, followed in 2000 and featured another charting single, the ballad “Crazy Things I Do.” A lengthy silence, including a period devoted to school, was broken in 2006 by Sammie’s self-titled second album. Issued on Austin’s reactivated Rowdy label, supported by Motown, the return sported a couple minor hits with “You Should Be My Girl” and “Come with Me.” Sammie was featured on Soulja Boy Tell Em’s Top Five R&B/hip-hop hit “Kiss Me Thru the Phone” but was otherwise inactive for several years. During the 2010s, he returned with mixtapes, EPs, and albums such as 2015’s Indigo and 2017’s Coming of Age, all released through his independent Star Camp label. During this sustained period of activity, Sammie also co-wrote “Next Breath” for Tank. ~ Andy Kellman & Heather Phares, Rovi