Take Me Out to the Ball Game
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"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.
The words were written in 1908 by Jack Norworth, otherwise best-known for writing "Shine On Harvest Moon". 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.
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".
| 1908 Version Katie Casey was baseball mad, |
1927 Version Nelly Kelly loved baseball games, |
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| Katie Casey saw all the games, Knew the players by their first names. |
Nelly Kelly was sure some fan, She would root just like any man, |
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[repeat Chorus] |
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Among those particularly associated with the song is Chicago Cubs announcer Harry Caray, who led the singing at games in Wrigley Field from 1981 through 1997.
In most Major League ballparks, the line "Let me root, root, root for the home team", "the home team" is replaced by the actual name of the home team. Some teams replace the words "Let me" with "So it's". 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."
Recordings and references
- The chorus played twice, in MIDI format
- Original lyric, sung by Edward Meeker (http://www.tinfoil.com/cm-9808.htm#e09926), recorded in 1908 on a phonograph cylinder
- Original 1908 sheet music (http://library.indstate.edu/level1.dir/cml/rbsc/kirk/PDFs/sm1908_take.pdf), in PDF format
- Lyrics to 1927 version (http://www.niehs.nih.gov/kids/lyrics/ballgame.htm)
- Lyrics with MIDI for verses and chorus at rienzihills.com (http://www.rienzihills.com/SING/T/takemeouttotheballgame.htm)