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 -- though neither of its authors had ever been to a game. 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.

[edit] History of the song

The words were written in 1908 by Jack Norworth, who while riding a subway train, was inspired by a sign that said "Baseball Today — Polo Grounds". The words were set to music by Albert Von Tilzer, although neither had ever seen a baseball game. The song was first sung by Norworth's wife Nora Bayes and popularized by various vaudeville acts. Norworth wrote an alternative version of the song in 1927. Norworth, with his wife, also wrote "Shine On, Harvest Moon."

[edit] Lyrics

Below are the two versions side by side for comparison:

[edit] Modern renditions of the song

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

One an episode of "I Love Lucy," "Lucy and Harpo Marx," Harpo plays "Take me out to the Ball Game" on his harp.

Among those famously associated with the song was Hall of Fame sportscaster 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. Caray's tradition of leading the crowd in singing the song began when White Sox owner Bill Veeck snuck a public address microphone into Caray's broadcast booth, so that the crowd could hear's Caray's boundless enthusiasm and marginal musical talents — something that previously only his broadcast colleagues were privy to. After that, Caray began leading the crowd, leaning out the front window of his booth and swinging his microphone in time with the music. When Caray left Sox broadcasts to join the WGN team broadcasting Cubs games, the singing tradition went with him. Late in his career, when Caray missed a number of games due to a stroke, "guest conductors" did the honors; after Caray's death, the guest-conductor tradition has become a part of the Cubs tradition, with different celebrities doing the activities each game, whether it is part of Chicago sports, actors, musicians, news anchors, or fans.

Coincidentally, the year the song was written (1908) is the last year the Cubs won the World Series — after beating out Norworth's Giants for the league championship.

When sung at baseball games, a variety of alternative lines are sung. Most of these center on the line "Let me root, root root for the home team;" in most Major League ballparks, the actual name of the home team is substituted for the words "home team."

For example, on the South Side of Chicago, it is sung "Let me root, root, root for the White Sox". If the team name contains one syllable, the word "team" can be appended to the team name, as in "Reds team," as sung in Cincinnati. Alternatively, a two-syllable nickname can be used, such as "Cubbies" at Chicago Cubs games, or "Twinkies" at Minnesota Twins games. Some teams replace the words "Let me" with either "So it's", "For it's", or "With a".

At a few baseball parks, such as Dodger Stadium where the Los Angeles Dodgers play, the song is played twice.

[edit] Recordings of the song

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 many films or skits having to do with baseball.

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.

In 1957, jazz pianists (and baseball fans) André Previn and Russ Freeman recorded Double Play! for Contemporary Records with drummer Shelly Manne. The original song titles invoke baseball imagery, such as "Called on Account of Rain," "In the Cellar Blues" and the title track. The first track on the album is a jazz version of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game."

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. This recording was included in a traveling exhibit of baseball art, called Diamonds Are Forever.

In the mid-1990s, a Major League Baseball ad campaign featured versions of the song performed by musicians of several different genres. An alternative rock version by the Goo Goo Dolls proved widely popular.

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

[edit] Stories about the song

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.

In 2006, Jim Burke authored and illustrated a children's book version of "Take Me Out To The Ballgame."

[edit] Online recordings and references

• Original lyric, sung by Edward Meeker.
• Lyrics to 1927 version
• Lyrics with MIDI for verses and chorus at rienzihills.com