The Lost Story of 'Take Me Out to the Ball Game'
There's a lot more to this baseball staple than you may know
Name a song that people across the United States know.
The Star Spangled Banner.
Happy Birthday.
Take Me Out to the Ballgame.
Ah yes, Take Me Out to the Ballgame!
We didn’t have a professional baseball team in my home state, but every kid I knew (whether they liked baseball or not) could sing along with Take Me Out to the Ball Game.
It’s just one of those joyous simple songs that everyone seems to know.
But where did the song come from – and how did it become so popular?
I was curious…
Our story begins in 1908, with a 29-year-old songwriter and vaudeville performer named Jack Norworth who had a problem.
He needed a new song for his act at the Amphion Theater in Brooklyn.
And as he was riding the subway to Manhattan, he noticed a billboard that read:
“Baseball today—polo grounds.”
That sign inspired Jack.
In less than 30 minutes, he had written the lyrics to Take Me Out to the Ball Game on a scrap of paper.
His friend, composer Albert Von Tilzer, later added the melody.
But there’s so much more to the song than people know.
While most baseball fans know the song that begins ‘Take Me Out to the Ball Game’, that’s not the start of the song.
That’s the chorus.
The song actually begins by telling the story of Katie Casey, a ‘baseball mad’ fan who wants to go to the ball game.
Her boyfriend offers to take her to a show, but she says no.
Instead, she says, ‘I’ll tell you what you can do.’
‘Take Me Out to the Ball Game…’
The second verse tells us even more about Katie and her love of baseball.
We learn that she ‘saw all the games’ and ‘knew the players by their first names.’
She also ‘told the umpire when he was wrong’, and when the game was tied, she’d ‘cheer up the boys’ by getting the gang to sing …
Take Me Out to the Ball Game…
The song – written in 1908 – is about a woman who loves baseball.
Let’s pause for a moment to acknowledge how interesting that is.
Women couldn’t vote in the United States in 1908 – and they weren’t filling the ballparks, either.
Though I found records of girls’ baseball teams back then, baseball was dominated by men, as it still is today. So, the fact that a man wrote a story about a ‘baseball mad’ girl who wanted to skip a show and instead watch a baseball game is interesting…
[OK, thanks for indulging me. Back to the story…]
Initially, Take Me Out to the Ball Game had a modest reception.
Norworth and his then-wife Nora Bayes performed the song in their act, but almost immediately other vaudeville performers began incorporating the song into their acts, with performers playing the role of Katie Casey and her boyfriend.
The song’s popularity grew quickly, and at least 30 variants of the sheet music for Take Me Out to the Ball Game were issued in 1908.
Edward Meeker recorded the song for Edison Phonograph Company that year – and it became a hit.
Meeker’s version was the top song in the US for seven weeks, and the third most popular song in 1908.
Billy Murray & Haydn Quartet’s version of Take Me Out to the Ball Game was the number one song that year.
In 1927, Norworth released a new version of Take Me Out to the Ball Game, where Katie Casey became Nelly Kelly, and other lyrics were also changed.
But the song’s focus on a woman’s passion for baseball remained.
But somehow, Katie (and later Nelly) were lost from the song.
Take Me Out to the Ball Game was first performed at a baseball game in 1934, and then again later that year at a Major League Baseball game.
The chorus of the song is traditionally sung during the Seventh Inning Stretch – the time when fans stand up and stretch in the middle of the game’s seventh inning.
Though the Stretch dates back earlier, the band at baseball games started playing Take Me Out to the Ball Game during the Seventh Inning Stretch in 1946.
Chicago sportscaster Harry Caray is credited with being the first to sing Take Me Out to the Ball Game at a Major League Baseball game in 1971.
Though Caray first sang it in the broadcast booth, in 1976, he was convinced to turn on the microphone and allow all the fans to hear him sing – and join in.
Chicago White Sox owner Bill Veeck suggested that hearing Caray’s less-than-professional singing voice would make fans comfortable singing along.
And he was right.
Fans joined in and began singing Take Me Out to the Ball Game en masse.
Take me Out to the Ball Game is now sung at every Major League Baseball game, with enthusiastic baseball fans of all ages joining in and singing along.
But while the chorus is an integral part of baseball games, the verses and the story of a ‘baseball mad’ young woman have somehow been lost.
(But hey, now you know!)
You can read both versions of Norworth’s lyrics here.
Here’s Harry Caray leading the fans during the 7th Inning Stretch:
FUN FACT: Jack Norworth attended his first Major League Baseball game on June 27, 1940, 32 years after writing the song. On the song’s 50th anniversary, Major League Baseball presented Norworth with a gold lifetime ballpark pass, in recognition of his creation and its important part of baseball history.
BONUS FUN FACT: The sweet Cracker Jack was an instant hit when introduced at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair (the same place that featured the world’s first Ferris Wheel!).
Cracker Jack was first sold at some ballparks in 1907, and sales skyrocketed after Cracker Jack was linked with baseball in Norworth's 1908 lyrics.
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-Beth
Omg that sounds completely delicious, do you make it for your family? I do know the song but definitely only the chorus, it was really a brilliant read today. Thanks for sharing.
I always love Curious Minds, Beth, but today’s was particularly hooky. Don’t ask me why. Loved the story and the Crackerjack detail at the bottom. Please can you tell me what Crackerjack tastes like, is it popcorn or pretzel, peanut brittle or honeycomb? My only reference is Breakfast at Tiffany’s and the ring prize.