Take Me Out to the Ball Game

I hope you've all read Anna's post from last week about her new glove. I recently learned that women baseball fans have been around for so long that the most popular baseball song ever written was about them. The song is Take Me Out to the Ball Game!

No, this is not an April Fool's Day Joke. Take Me Out to the Ball Game was written about not one, but two women baseball fans.

First written in 1908, the full lyrics by Jack Norworth tell the story of Katie Casey. When her boyfriend asks her whether she would like to go see a show she replies with the famous words we all know:

"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."

In 1927, the song was rereleased, this time about a women named Nelly Kelly. Nelly's boyfriend asks to take her to Coney Island but her response is the same as Katie's.

"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."

So the next time you sing this song, think of the women baseball fans who came before you. I know I can't wait until my first ball game this year. 

For the complete lyrics and story behind the song, visit The Baseball Almanac