"Personal Checks You Can Bank On!" ™
Since it was first played and first performed officially to open a game in 1934 in Los Angeles, "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" became one of America’s most recognized songs, second only to "The Star Spangled Banner" and "Happy Birthday," which tied for first. With more than a hundred years of use, the song has been played at almost every baseball game at some point during the game.
Few remember or even know the distinctive history which led to this song’s development. In fact, traditionally, the song is generally sung during the seventh inning. But during the singing, only the chorus is performed rather than the verses. While the focus is of course on attending a ball game, the song actually tells a more intriguing story, both in its lyrics and its history.
Despite its popularity, "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" was not the first baseball song to be played. Baseball was popular for quite some time before the first known baseball song was written. The purpose of these songs was both to draw in the crowds and contribute to a sense of fun and sportsmanship.
Jack Norworth had no intentions of creating the great baseball sensation. Indeed, he had never even been to a baseball game. He was a vaudeville performer and composer. But one day, as he sat in a subway train, he saw a sign that said, "Baseball Today – Polo Grounds." He then started scribbling on a scrap of paper. The words came together quickly. Later he took the lyrics to Albert von Tilzer. Von Tilzer soon developed a catchy tune, and later that year, Norworth’s wife performed the show in the vaudeville act.
The song’s popularity exploded. People loved the song, and when they started playing it at baseball games, the crowd began singing along. No one planned it. It just happened. Both Norworth and von Tilzer enjoyed their popularity and went on to create many other songs such as "Shine on, Harvest Moon." But despite their work, none of their other songs came close to matching "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" and its popularity. Still considering, that the song has been played billions of times, it would be very challenging to rival that record.
In the first version of the song, the verses tell the story of Katie Casey, a girl who would much rather attend a baseball game rather than attend a broadway musical or a vaudeville show. At the time, both musicals and shows were considered more proper and civilized entertainment with baseball games being more of the games of the masses.
Katie Casey insisted on seeing all of the games. She knew each and every player and booed the umpire. While such activities are not something that most raise an eyebrow to these days, back in the first decade of the twentieth century, it was still considered tomboyish and somewhat inappropriate behavior for a young woman.
In the revision of 1927, Norworth emphasized that distinction still further with lines like "She would root just like any man." The girl’s name was likewise changed to Nelly Kelly. The song went on to emphasize the importance of Nelly’s role at the game as, when the score was tied, she made everyone sing the song along with her to encourage their team.
The song has only increased in popularity. The original version passed into the public domain some time ago, and it has appeared in video games, movies, plays, and compositions. Isabelle Smythe describes the song as being "as American a song as any other next to the National Anthem. When people say that something is as ‘American as baseball, mom, and apple pie,’ this is the song that they think of."
No one knows why the song became so incredibly popular. It did launch the careers of peanut sellers and the, at that point, unknown treat "Crackerjacks." And the song has been repackaged several times. In the mid 1990s, Major League Baseball put together a special ad campaign that featured several popular musicians and players singing the song one line at a time. Then in 2001, Nike put together their own commercial using, what they termed an "ethnically diverse" compilation of Major League Baseball players.
Game bands play the song, both to signal a baseball game or a baseball theme. And folks still sing along with it for quite some time. It’s a part of the American tradition and a part of the baseball legacy.