“Take Me Out to the Ball Game”

Lewis Hine, Playground in tenement alley, New York, 1909 (2006.55.10)

“Take Me Out to the Ball Game,” performed by Harvey Hindermeyer in 1908, written by Jack Norworth and Albert Von Tilzer, 1908.

William Adams Bibbins, [Norfolk Colored Stars], ca. 1910 (1390.1990)

The Norfolk Colored Stars were an African American touring baseball team from Norfolk, Virginia. They played in forty-two states and Canada during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, prior to the establishment of the Negro League in 1920. These men would not have been able to play with or against white baseball players due to the formal banning of blacks from baseball teams in 1887. Bibbins, an African American photographer, operated a studio in Brooklyn, New York, from 1900 to 1933. (1390.1990)

“Take Me Out to the Ball Game,” performed by Frankie Masters and his Orchestra in 1923; written by Jack Norworth and Albert Von Tilzer, 1908.

Unidentified Photographer, Women’s Baseball Team, ca. 1910 (2011.17.3)

“Take Me Out to the Ball Game” performed by Leroy Holmes and his Orchestra in 1951; written by Jack Norworth and Albert Von Tilzer, 1908.

“Take Me Out to the Ball Game,” by Jack Norworth and Albert Von Tilzer.

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:”

Chorus

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: