"Take Me Out to the Ballgame"

There is a joke question that seems to pop up on the internet that asks: "Why do we sing 'Take Me Out to the Ballgame' if we're already at the ballgame?" The simplest answer is that it's become the unofficial official song of baseball. It is a song of reverence of going to see a game in the pastoral fields of the past, and brings back memories of a life of baseball for countless Americans. But in honor of opening day and following in the tradition of expendablenlightenment, here's some info I'm sure you don't know.

The song "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" has been around since 1908. The lyrics were written by Jack Norworth, and the tune was by Albert Von Tilzer. The song was recorded first by Edward Meeker (whose recording was entered into the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress in 2010, which is exclusive to recordings that important in the history of recordings). The went on to become one of the most popular songs of 1908. The song was for many years performed in vaudeville acts, and not in actual baseball parks. The first known use of the song at a baseball game was in 1934 at (of all things) a high school baseball game. There has been evidence of the song being played at a major league park later that year.

An interesting note about the song that most people don't know is that what is sung during the seventh inning stretch is actually just the chorus of the song. There are two verses that are not sung during baseball games. The lyrics were rewritten a bit in 1927, but the original 1908 lyrics are as follows:

Katie Casey was baseball mad,
Had the fever and had it bad.
Just to root for the home town crew,
Ev'ry sou
Katie blew.
On a Saturday her young beau
Called to see if she'd like to go
To see a show, but Miss Kate said "No,
I'll tell you what you can do:"

[Chorus]
Take me out to the ball game,
Take me out with the crowd;
Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack,
I don't care if I never get back.
Let me root, root, root for the home team,
If they don't win, it's a shame.
For it's one, two, three strikes, you're out,
At the old ball game.

Katie Casey saw all the games,
Knew the players by their first names.
Told the umpire he was wrong,
All along,
Good and strong.
When the score was just two to two,
Katie Casey knew what to do,
Just to cheer up the boys she knew,
She made the gang sing this song:
[repeat Chorus]

One note is the word "sou". This word was a slang term that is now defunct, but it meant a low denomination coin. The song's reworked lyrics went "Ev'ry cent/Katie spent". Also, later versions of the song changes Katie to Nelly. As you can see, the song is actually a story.

The most interesting part of the "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" story is that the idea for the song came from Norworth sitting on a subway train in New York and seeing a sign that read "Baseball Today - Polo Grounds". Unbelievably, Norworth had never been to a baseball game up to that point, and he wrote the lyrics before he ever attended a game. Von Tilzer hadn't been to a ballgame either. Neither attended a baseball game until at least twenty years after they wrote baseball's greatest anthem!

Bet you didn't know that!