• I’VE BEEN TO THREE BASEBALL GAMES so far this year.
Two of the games were MLB & one was Single-A. I’ve sat a few rows up from the field and I’ve sat a few rows down from the top. Plus I’ve sat in box seats.
None of the games have been scoreless, but they haven’t been memorable either. No grand slams. No amazing fast balls. No outrageous home runs hit out of the park.
Just pleasant somethings to do.
• I ONLY MENTION THEM TODAY BECAUSE, oddly enough, I have no real flapdoodle or twaddle to tell you, my gentle readers.
I usually have something to say here, whether it be a topic or an observation or an absurdity. So in place of the usual, I thought that I’d leave you with ALL the lyrics for “Take Me Out To The Ballgame.”
Not everyone understands that if it weren’t for Katie Casey, none of us would be singing this particular song during the 7th inning stretch.
That girl had it going on!
• • •
• • •
Take Me Out To The Ballgame
Katie Casey was baseball mad
Had the fever and had it bad.
Just to root for the home town crew,
Ev’ry sou, Katie blew;
On a Saturday, her 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.”
• • •
THE SPECTACLED BEAN 
Very few people know that song has verses as well. Harry Caray is well-known for singing it at Wrigley Field in Chicago during the seventh-inning stretch at Cubs games; there aren’t too many people who remember he started doing it at Comiskey Park when he was the announcer at White Sox games.
Baseball is the only sport I care about. Even the games where nothing spectacular happens are good ones, and as Yogi Berra said, “it ain’t over until it’s over”: until the final out, you can never be sure who won.
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I agree about baseball. It’s fun to sit back and wait to see what happens. As long as the seats are comfortable and the sun isn’t in my eyes, I’m good to go.
Carly Simon does a cover of this song where she changes a few of the phrases to make Katie sound a bit more modern. That’s where I heard it all the first time.
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I don’t go to baseball games. I find them too long. But I’ll go to a Cavs basketball game every now and then. The popcorn and beer is what really draws me…
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Carrie, baseball games can get to be too much sitting. I understand that. But I like being outside and I like the slower pace of the game. On the other hand, you couldn’t get me to go to a basketball game– too noisy and claustrophobic! They are not for me.
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Very noisy and claustrophobic. Especially for an introvert.
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Yes they are. But you? Go and enjoy yourself. Tell me all about it when you get back! 😉
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So cool! I had no idea who this song was about, nor did I know there were verses. It’s funny, my duet partner and I will be playing this little piece along with many other fun songs this Saturday at the farmer’s market!
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Beth, Carly Simon is how I learned about the complete lyrics. Then I got curious and looked up the origins of the song. I bet that you’ll think about this song a whole different way when you play it on Saturday.
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For those who are interested…
Here’s a link to Carly Simon’s version of Take Me Out To The Ball Game. It’s much peppier than the one from 1908.
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Good use of the word “flapdoodle” 🙂
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letizia, why thank you. I’ve always liked it.
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I never knew this song was more than the seventh inning stretch.
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Andra, all we hear today is the chorus, but once you know the rest of lyrics I think that the song makes more sense. In tin pan alley sort of way!
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Well how about that? I’d never heard the part with Katie Casey before. Learn something new!
How’s the train to nowhere going?
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Zazzy, I know! I was amazed when I learned that there was more to the song than the chorus.
The right train has come along now, so I’m back on track. Thx for asking. 🙂
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Actually going to any sports game can be an adventure, but it mostly requires a scary drive into Seattle. *shudder* I would love to see some Seahawks games and even go to a Mariner game(they’ve been terrible!) but have no interest in basketball, especially since our Sonics were stolen away from us.
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Margaret, I’m not a sports nut by nature, but I do like to see a game [never basketball] once in a while. When the weather is pleasant there’s nothing quite like a baseball game. Or football for that matter. For me nice things to do.
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Thanks for sharing Carly Simon’s version. I love it! I really don’t remember her singing this.
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During the days Anheuser Busch owned the Cardinals, the 7th inning stretch was the time to strike up “Here Comes The King” (That theme you heard sometimes in old Budweiser commercials). Take Me Out To The Ballgame was held off until after the 7th inning. It was baseball heresy in its highest form, but I always got a kick out of it (When the non-brewery owners took over the team in 1996, the placing of the songs was switched)….
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No kidding? I’ve never heard of a baseball game that didn’t highlight “Take Me Out To The Ballgame” as the end all & beat all of the 7th inning. I vaguely remember that jingle, but not much of it. Interesting.
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Since I hadn’t ventured out on any of my baseball road trips by the point the song was put in its more traditional place, I had no idea singing Take Me Out To The Ballgame at some time other than the seventh inning stretch was so weird. But even now, the team is still heavily tied to the brewery, and despite being a very traditional team, baseball in St. Louis is all about the beer first.
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Huh. Makes sense as long as spectators don’t get too drunk on the beer. Around here, baseball is tame while football is where you go to find beer, beer, beer.
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Thanks, Ally, this is great. Found something else you might like, Phil Rizzuto, Tommy Henrich, Ralph Branca, and Roy Campanella singing Take Me Out To The Ballgame with what sounds like a lot of help from some other singers.
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Charming. But what about Katie Casey? Once again, the boys of summer left her out of the song. So sad.
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Unfortunately, boys will be boys.
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Yep.
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I’m glad to finally learn about Katie Casey. 🙂 Thanks Ally!
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Kourtney, the lyrics are cool. Too bad that she’s been all but forgotten in the world of baseball.
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