MUSIC MONDAYS: TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALLGAME

Last evening I sat in Dodgers stadium, watching the Phillies lose to the Dodgers. At some point they sang the old hit "Take Me Out to the Ball Game"(perhaps the 7th inning stretch, but I think they only sing "God Bless America" now... or maybe they sing both in the bottom of the 7th). As I listened to the lyrics and all the dumb Dodgers fans sang "Root root root for the Dodgers" I thought how lame it was that everyone changed the lyrics of the song to say their team instead of the generic "home team." Then I thought about it and started to wonder whether or not I got the whole song wrong along. Maybe the lyrics were never "Root root root for the home team" but rather "Root root root for the [home team]" or Root root root for the ________" if you like it written that way better.

According to the lovable community Encyclopedia authors at Wikipedia, the lyrics are "root, root, root for the home team." I guess fans decided saying "Dodgers" or "Giants" or whatever would show more spirit.

What else about this legendary song may you not know?

Well there are two versions: one from 1908 and one from 1927. They both have the same famous lyrics, but their verses are different. Of course we never sing the verses anymore, so for our purposes they're virtually the same. Just in case you care, here are the original lyrics:

1908 Version

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 crowds;
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:

Chorus


1927 Version

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 boyfriend 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:
[Chorus]

Take me out to the ball game,
Take me out with the crowds;
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:

Chorus


It's safe to say that my girlfriend Jen Murse isn't like Katie or Nelly. She's no baseball fiend. In fact, she's not even baseball impartial bystander. She hates baseball. She hates it so much that I can't say anything about baseball without her rolling her eyes. I can't say "look at this team's logo." Nope. She may like the logo but as soon as I tell her it's a baseball team, she dismisses it immediately. Oh well. As Sarah Palin says "We agree to disagree on that one" I think that someone else may've invented the phrase, but she's gotta be the one who popularized it.