Take Me Out to the Ball Game

"Take Me Out to the Ball Game" is an early-20th century Tin Pan Alley song which became the unofficial anthem of baseball. The song is traditionally sung during the seventh-inning stretch of a baseball game, in spite of the technicality that it is written from the perspective of someone not currently watching a game. Fans are encouraged to sing along.

Related Topics:
20th century - Tin Pan Alley - Baseball - Seventh-inning stretch

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The words were written in 1908 by Jack Norworth, otherwise best-known for writing "Shine On, Harvest Moon" (co-written with Nora Bayes). While riding a subway train, he was inspired by a sign that said "Baseball Today — Polo Grounds". After he wrote the lyrics, it was set to music by Albert Von Tilzer, although neither of them had ever seen a baseball game before. The song was first sung by Norworth's wife Nora Bayes, then further popularized by various vaudeville acts.

Related Topics:
1908 - Jack Norworth - Shine On, Harvest Moon - Subway - Polo Grounds - Albert Von Tilzer - Nora Bayes - Vaudeville

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The verses to the song are almost never heard, but the chorus is commonly held to be the third most-often-played song in the United States, after "The Star-Spangled Banner" and "Happy Birthday".

Related Topics:
United States - The Star-Spangled Banner - Happy Birthday

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1908 Version

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Katie Casey was baseball mad,

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Had the fever and had it bad.

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Just to root for the home town crew,

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Ev'ry sou1

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Katie blew.

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On a Saturday her young beau

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Called to see if she'd like to go

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To see a show

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But Miss Kate said "No,

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I'll tell you what you can do:"

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1927 Version

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Nelly Kelly loved baseball games,

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Knew the players, knew all their names.

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You could see her there ev'ry day,

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Shout "Hurray"

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When they'd play.

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Her boyfriend by the name of Joe

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Said, "To Coney Isle, dear, let's go",

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Then Nelly started to fret and pout,

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And to him, I heard her shout:

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'

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Take me out to the ball game,

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Take me out with the crowd

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Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack,

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I don't care if I never2 get back.

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Let me root, root, root for the home team,

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If they don't win, it's a shame.

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For it's one, two, three strikes, you're out,

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At the old ball game.

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Katie Casey saw all the games,

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Knew the players by their first names.

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Told the umpire he was wrong,

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All along,

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Good and strong.

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When the score was just two to two,

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Katie Casey knew what to do,

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Just to cheer up the boys she knew,

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She made the gang sing this song:

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Nelly Kelly was sure some fan,

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She would root just like any man,

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Told the umpire he was wrong,

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All along,

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Good and strong.

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When the score was just two to two,

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Nelly Kelly knew what to do,

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Just to cheer up the boys she knew,

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She made the gang sing this song:

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1 The term "sou" is an obscure word for a low-denomination coin. Carly Simon's version, produced for Ken Burns' 1994 documentary on baseball, reads "Ev'ry cent / Katie spent".

Related Topics:
Sou - Carly Simon - Ken Burns - 1994

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2 The line "never get back" is more often sung "ever get back" nowadays.

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Among those particularly associated with the song was Harry Caray, who began singing at games in Comiskey Park for the Chicago White Sox from the early 1970s to 1981, then in Wrigley Field for the Chicago Cubs from 1982 through 1997. To historians and fans of the Cubs, there is a subtle irony that the year the song was written is the last year the Cubs won the World Series... after beating out Norworth's Giants for the league championship.

Related Topics:
Harry Caray - Comiskey Park - Chicago White Sox - 1981 - Wrigley Field - Chicago Cubs - 1982 - 1997

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In most Major League ballparks, the line "Let me root, root, root for the home team", substitutes the actual name of the home team. Some teams replace the words "Let me" with "So it's" or other variations. For example, in San Francisco, it is sung "Let me root, root, root for the Giants". If the team name contains one syllable, the word "team" can be appended to the team name, or a two-syllable nickname can be used. For example, at Cubs games, the line is sung "So it's root, root, root for the Cubbies," and at Cincinnati Reds games, it is sung "So it's root, root, root for our Reds team." However, at Minnesota Twins games, it is merely sung as the generic "home team". Some fans invoke the team's "alternate" nickname, and sing it as "Twinkies".

Related Topics:
Major League - San Francisco - Cincinnati Reds

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The song (or at least its chorus) has been recorded many times in the nearly 100 years since it was written. It has been used as an instrumental underscore or introduction to almost any film or skit having to do with baseball.

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The first verse of the 1927 version is sung by Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra at the start of the 1949 musical film, Take Me Out to the Ball Game, a movie that also features a song about the famous and fictitious double play combination, O'Brien to Ryan to Goldberg.

Related Topics:
Gene Kelly - Frank Sinatra

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In 1988, on the 100th anniversary of the poem Casey at the Bat, Sports Illustrated writer Frank DeFord constructed a fanciful story (later expanded to book form) which posited Katie Casey as being the daughter of the famous slugger from the poem.

Related Topics:
1988 - Casey at the Bat - Sports Illustrated - Frank DeFord

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One recording artist in the early 1990s released a version of the song that simply skipped the first two words, but kept the tune the same, thus highlighting the simplicity of the lyrics, and the fact that most of its words are of single syllables: "Out to the ball game take me / Out to the crowd buy me / Some peanuts and Cracker Jack, I don't /" etc.

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A complete parody of the song was featured in an episode of Freakazoid.

Related Topics:
Parody - Freakazoid

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