Take Me Out To The Ball Game

September 27, 2012

Sadly, the baseball season is quickly coming to an end. At least, there are the playoffs and World Series to look forward to before we have to wait through a long winter for another opening day. 

Do you know the history of the song "Take Me Out to the Ball Game"? The song was written in 1908 by Jack Norworth, a vaudeville entertainer looking for new material. One day Norworth boarded a train in Manhattan and noticed a sign which read “Baseball Today-Polo Grounds.” He had never been to a professional game, but by the time he reached his stop, he had scribbled the lyrics for a song about baseball. He asked a friend, Albert von Tilzer, to write the melody. The song fell flat when it was first introduced in Norworth’s vaudeville act, but it became a nationwide hit and the anthem of baseball.  In 1927, Norworth changed some of the lyrics to the version we know today.

MCPL has extensive reference materials on the history of baseball, as well as the history of songs on any subject. We have "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" as well as other songs about baseball on CD. Check them out anytime, even during the off-season when you feel a need to escape the winter blues and visit the ball park.

Neal M.
North Oak Branch