Baseballs Greatest Hit: Take Me Out To The Ball Game

by Andy Strasberg, Robert Thompson, Tim Wiles

(Book). The authorized tie-in book to the 100th anniversary of this beloved song. "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" is the third most frequently sung song in America, after "Happy Birthday" and "The Star-Spangled Banner," and you'd be hard-pressed to find an American who doesn't know the words. With the release of this special edition, full-color, hardcover book, the complete story of the song is presented, taking us on a fascinating journey into how "Ball Game" has come to take a unique place in our cultural landscape. With images of historical newspaper clippings, baseball cards, sheet music, movie stills, ballplayers at the mic, and of course, Harry Caray leading the crowd at Wrigley, Baseball's Greatest Hit also comes packaged with a CD of rare and classic recordings, including performances by Dr. John, Arturo Sandoval, George Winston, Harry Caray and many more. Features an introduction by baseball commissioner Bud Selig and a foreword by Carly Simon. Baseball's Greatest Hit is a gorgeous celebration, not only of a song, but of baseball, music, pop culture, and the creative ways that Americans have always taken popular music and made it their own. And as the book traces the song's evolution over the last 100 years, it also traces the evolution of American culture from the early days of Tin Pan Alley and sheet music pluggers; through the early role of women as baseball players and fans; through movie musicals, baseball's expansion west, rock and roll, and modern ballparks; right up to the present-day when in July 2007 more than 50 Hall of Famers came together to sing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" in Cooperstown.

Genres: Baseball, Nonfiction, Sports, Music

222 pages, Hardcover

First published April 2, 2008

Reviews

[Brina · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a lifelong fan of the Chicago Cubs, the song Take Me Out to the Ballgame is as much a part of my vernacular as the game itself. Growing up watching Harry Caray sing the beloved song, as a child I was convinced that he had wrote it. Yet, contrary to popular belief, Caray is not the author of a song as much a part of America as the Star Spangled Banner. Rather, Jack Norworth and Albert Von Tilzer composed the lyrics in 1908, creating baseball's anthem, which would eventually be sung in a myriad of versions by fans everywhere. Andy Strasburg, Bob Thompson, and Tim Miles, all baseball historians, have compiled Baseball's Greatest Hit: The Story of Take Me Out to the Ballgame, a fitting tribute to one of America's most famous songs.

Jack Norworth and Albert Von Tilzer were not baseball fans. They were song writers during the Tin Pan Alley era when penny songs were at their height. Norworth claims to have never been to a baseball game until 1958, but on a subway in Brooklyn, he saw an ad urging fans to come out to the ball game. In September 1908, in only fifteen minutes, Norworth composed his hit. The song would not be sung at baseball games on a regular basis, however, until 1976 when Harry Caray started his tradition of singing during the seventh inning stretch at White Sox and later Cubs games. The song we know so well; however, is the chorus. The two stanzas are about a fan named Katie Casey who was baseball mad. This song was actually aimed at women to urge their beaus to take them to the ballgame. The song along with ladies days at many ballparks stuck as part of American lore.

Take Me Out to the Ballgame did not become a permanent part of the seventh inning stretch until the 1970s. During war time, stadiums played God Bless America, and still do on Sundays and holidays. Even during eras when the song was not sung in actual ballparks, it became popularized through its availability on sheet music, records, and collectibles. Ball players including Babe Ruth and Joe DiMaggio sung the song during the off seasons to promote baseball, and eventually, the song became as popular as happy birthday. Strasburg interviewed music professor Dave Headlam, and he explained the song's ease of singing is because it was written as a waltz, and the first two notes are the same an octave apart, the same as timeless Somewhere Over the Rainbow, facilitating easy singing for fans everywhere. The popularity crescendoed when Harry Caray joined the Cubs and belted the song each day on the team's national broadcast. This fueled the belief that Caray had actually authored the song.

In 1994 during baseball's strike, Ken Burns produced an eighteen hour documentary about the history of baseball. During the segment devoted to the 1900s decade, he featured Norworth's hit song Take Me Out to the Ballgame. Fans learned about Katie Casey, and after watching this feature many times, I soon memorized the lyrics, singing along with Carly Simon as she made the full song widely available to many. By 2008, the hundredth anniversary of the song, all ball parks played the song for the seventh inning stretch, each with its own unique twist, attesting to the longevity of this special song.

I found Strasburg, Thompson, and Miles' book to be informative, learning various tidbits about the song that I have heard my entire life. The book is a coffee table book containing photographs as well as detailed history of the song. While there is not enough information in this book to fill a full length history book, I did enjoy this stroll through baseball and American history featuring a song that most Americans know well. Baseball's Greatest Hit is not a crowning literary achievement but it does contain a cd with distinct versions of the song. A worthy entry in any baseball fan's library, Baseball's Greatest Hit is a relaxing homage to a song that is an integral part of the America's pastime.

2 stars-- writing
4+ stars-- photographs, layout, and nostalgia

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating history and piece of baseball lore, but the real hit is the accompanying music CD! This CD includes 16 variations of this famous song including pop/rock, jazz and even a barbershop quartet. The final song on the CD allows the listener to sing along with Harry Caray one more time! It's hard to believe he's been gone 10 years.

[Brenda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bought this book after Tim Wiles was the keynote speaker at the 2017 Vintage Base Ball Association conference in Cooperstown. It is loaded with information about the song, other baseball music, and general baseball history.
Did you know that what is sung at ballparks is really only the chorus? I didn't until I saw an exhibit at the Baseball Hall of Fame museum.
The book comes with a CD with various recording artists' versions. Carly Simon's is not included. I still need to give that a listen.

[Daniel Suhajda]

Who knew about the opening verse that is never sung? It is an interesting story and the book is full of tidbits.

[Ron Kaplan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This year marks the centennial of what baseball fans believe to be the true national anthem and this trio of authors have done the ditty proud.[return][return]Baseball s Greatest Hit is an everything you always wanted to know about the song, and then some. The curious reader will learn how the team of Jack Norworth and Albert Von Tilzer joined forces to collaborate on the tune which by the authors count amounts to hundreds of versions. They explore the mythos of creation: what were the circumstances under which it was created? Were both men equally responsible, or was there an about understanding about credit between partners?[return][return]Among the other highlights of the book:[return][return] * A team-by-team appraisal on how they handle their seventh inning stretches. Prior to 9/11, Take Me Out was standard fare. For a time afterwards, that was replaced by God Bless America. While many ball clubs have returned to the Norworth-Von Tilzer song, some, notably the Yankees, still tug at the patriotic heartstrings.[return] * A look at the eponymous movie, starring Frank Sinatra, Gene Kelly, Esther Williams, and Betty Garrett.[return] * An extensive time line of the song[return] * A tribute to Harry Caray, the Chicgao announcer who gave it back to the fans[return] * Collectibles on the TMO theme[return] * A discography of myriad artists and formats who have recorded the song[return] * A list of all commercially printed music about baseball in the collection of the Library of Congress [return] * Some punchy parodies (my favorite is the Passover seder version)[return] * Professor Hedlam s Formal Musical Theoretical Analysis of Take Me Out to the Ball Game which comes with a warning for those with a less than serious approach: stay away.[return][return]The book includes a bonus CD with several versions of the song.[return][return]When I first heard about this book, I didn t have high expectations. A few years ago the University of Wisconsin Press published Baseball and Country Music, an unimpressive little paperback. Frankly, I was thinking along those lines. I m happy to see how wrong I was. The authors each have bona fides which well-qualify them to write on this topic. Strasberg is acknowledged as one of the foremost authorities on and collectors of the song. Thompson is co-producer of the Baseball Music Project, a series of theatrical concerts with the national pastime as its theme. And Wiles is director of research at the baseball Hall of Fame. Together they make up a Tinkers-Evers-Chance combination, each using his particular specialty to produce the final product, tremendously enhanced by the work of graphic designers Bernadette Malavarca and Damian Castaneda, whom Wiles called unsung heroes (unfortunately, Damian s name is misspelled on the book jacket).[return][return]In a telephone conversation, Wiles noted that even after the manuscript was completed, more information kept coming in. He discovered that in addition to his musical skills, Norworth was an inventor, responsible for the device that gave the impression of movement in old films. He was also a serious collector of miniatures. We re still finding stuff out, Wiles said. I d love to do something biographical about Norworth and Von Tilzer, but I think the moment might be now& and we re a little tied up right now.[return][return] A lot of the things we d like to do, we just don t have time to do.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

We got the audio book from the library and my children loved singing along to the song.