"Take Me Out to the Ballgame"

"Take Me Out to the Ballgame"

On the left are the two official versions of the song "Take Me Out to the Ballgame." On the right are my pet peeves regarding the issue:

Katie Casey was base ball mad.
Had the fever and had it bad;
Just to root for the home town crew,
Ev'ry sou Katie blew.
On a Saturday, he 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."

"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:

"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."

Nelly Kelly loved baseball games,
Knew the players, knew all their names,
You could see her there ev'ry day,
Shout "Hurray," when they'd play.
Her boy friend by the name of Joe
Said, "To Coney Isle, dear, let's go,"
Then Nelly started to fret and pout,
And to him I heard her shout.

"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."

Nelly Kelly was sure some fan,
She would root just like any man,
Told the umpire he was wrong,
All along, good and strong.
When the score was just two to two,
Nelly Kelly knew what to do,
Just to cheer up the boys she knew,
She made the gang sing this song.

"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."

My pet peeves don't involve the songs themselves. No, they involve the ignorant people who sing them.

No. 1:

People who profess to be die-hard fans don't understand the history behind the songs. History and baseball go together, though, so to not understand the history of such an integral part of the game do not really understand baseball itself.

Jack Norworth's 1908 classic, Take Me Out to the Ball Game, which was written on some scrap paper on a train ride to Manhattan, New York. Norworth then provided those paper scrap lyrics to Albert Von Tilzer who composed the music which in turn was published by the York Music Company and before the year was over, a hit song was born.

Norworth was a very successful vaudeville entertainer / songwriter and spent fifteen minutes writing this classic which is sung during the seventh inning stretch at every ball park in the country. In 1927, he changed some lyrics and a second version appeared.

The interesting thing, with respect, is that neither Norworth nor Von Tilzer had ever attended a baseball game when they wrote the song. Norworth, in fact, attended his first major league game on June 27, 1940 with a gold lifetime ballpark pass. The Brooklyn Dodgers beat the Chicago Cubs that day 5-4.

So, my qualm is that not many people understand the history or that the part of the song they sing at the ballgame is just that -- mearly a part. The part we commonly sing is the chorus.

No. 2:

My question to you is: Where is the "s" at the end of the product name? There isn't one. Why? Because there is no such thing as "Cracker JackS" unless it is some cheap, generic brand. Even then I highly doubt it exists because Crack Jack (without an "s") would have already sued them.

But, inevitably, almost everybody at the ballpark yells out without restraint: "Buy me some peanuts and Cracker JackS..." This kills me.

No. 3:

Yes, I understand there is a double-negative in the song. In the most perfect of grammar worlds, the song should have said: "I don't care if I EVER get back..." The word "ever" should replace the word "never." However, it is unfair for us to change the original writings of Norworth. He thought to put the word "never" in there and our ancestors had no qualms in adopting it. So let's sing the song how it was written people.

No. 4:

I realize this is of no fault to the majority of fans, but when I go to baseball games, I am appalled at the absurdity of the people in charge of things like Diamond Vision, who ruthlessly take the liberties of changing "home team" to "Mariners" or whom ever the home team is at that time.

As a matter of principle, when I see that on the screen, I yell out as loud as I possibly can, sounding like Mike Ditka: "home team." The people arround me, without fail, give me looks as if I am the person singing it wrong. The look on their faces is priceless: "How in the world can you say 'home team' and screw up the words. Don't you know the writer wrote 'Mariners' and not what you are singing?"

Oh, my mistake.

Food for thought: Why do we sing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" if we're already there?

Quotable: "In the seventh inning fans all get up and sing 'Take Me Out to the Ball Game,' and they're already there. It's really a stupid thing to say and I don't know who made 'em sing it. Why would somebody that's there get up and sing take me out to the ball game? The first person to do it must have been a moron." - Pitcher Larry Anderson