My son Mo (who is eight) plays the fife and has been working on baseball’s signature tune,”Take Me Out to the Ballgame.”

www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fFn-jZ8lqw

Mo dedicates this performance (December 2010) to his 3rd grade teacher Mrs. Coffman.

HOT DOG!  Finally, finally, a Singable Picture Book is published with the FULL set of lyrics for “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” and it is a wonderful, wonderful edition, by far the best one I’ve seen:
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Take Me Out to the Ball Game
Words by Jack Norworth
Music by Albert Von Tilzer
Illustrated by Amiko Hirao
Performed by Carly Simon

Amiko Hirao’s illustration of Take Me Out to the Ball Game comes with a  CD of songs performed by Carly Simon.  Ms. Simon sings an amazing arrangement (including ukulele and a gang of friends in the chorus) of this classic baseball song on Track 1.  Plus, in the last pages of the book, read the “Performer’s Note,” and you will learn of Ms. Simon’s very special connection to the game of baseball and the great Jackie Robinson.  This is a FABULOUS book.

And KUDOS to Peter Yarrow and Imagine Publishing who put out this book and other Singable Picture Book favorites including “Puff the Magic Dragon,” “Over the Rainbow,” and “The Marvelous Toy,” which are all favorites in Sing Books with Emily gatherings!  These books are always in the “most requested” lists.

Carly Simon’s version of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” was originally recorded for Ken Burn’s amazing documentary on Baseball.
Read all about the series, and learn a lot about the game, here:
http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/baseball/

“Take Me Out to the Ballgame” is the subject of a few other Singable Picture Books, although, just the chorus is included in these.  Some of them, however, include wonderful bits of history about the song and the game of baseball.

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Take Me Out to the Ball Game
Words by Jack Norworth
Music by Albert Von Tilzer
Illustrated by Jim Burke
(This book features printed music, extensive historical information about the song, and an introduction of Pete Hamill)

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Take Me Out to the Ballgame
Words by Jack Norworth
Music by Albert Von Tilzer
Illustrated by Alec Gillman

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Take Me Out to the Ballgame
Story by Maryann Kovalski
Song Lyrics by Jack Norworth
Music by Albert von Tilzer
Illustrated by Maryann Kovalski

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Players in Pigtails
Book by Shana Corey
Illustrated by Rebecca Gibbon
Words to “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” (printed on the end papers) by Jack Norworth/Music by Albert von Tilzer

You can also sing-along with the parody in this book,

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Take Me Out of the Bathtub (and Other Silly Dilly Songs)
Traditional Tunes
Words Adapted by Alan Katz
Illustrated by David Catrow
(Terrific videos of Alan Katz talking about his work, here:
http://books.simonandschuster.com/Take-Me-Out-Of-The-Bathtub-And-Other-Silly-Dilly/Alan-Katz/9780689829031
Just scroll down, find the video windows and Play)

We all sing just the chorus at the 7th inning stretch, but the song has two verses.

As with many folk songs, there are often varying versions of the lyrics.  The song was first published in 1908 and these are the original lyrics.  A slightly different set of lyrics was published in 1927.

Take Me Out to the Ballgame
Words by Jack Norworth
Music by Albert Von Tilzer
Published by York Music Company

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.”

This video features Ed Meeker’s 1908 recording of the song with the original lyrics of all verses and accompanied by wonderful archival photographs:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4-gsdLSSQ0
Edward Meeker’s 1908 recording of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” was inducted in the Library of Congress National Recording Registry in April 2011.  Read about it further down in this article, or click here:
http://www.loc.gov/today/pr/2011/11-073.html

It is said that Jack Norworth wrote the lyrics while riding the subway in New York City, never having ever seen a baseball game.  The following links offer song history about “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,”

From the Library of Congress:
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.natlib.ihas.200153239/default.html

From Baseball Almanac:
http://www.baseball-almanac.com/poetry/po_stmo.shtml

From Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Take_Me_Out_to_the_Ball_Game

From Major League Baseball:
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/fan_forum/babyruth/index.jsp?content=history

An interesting blog about the song from “Baseball Researcher”:
http://baseballresearcher.blogspot.com/2009/10/take-me-out-to-ball-game-polo-grounds.html

Click here to download free sheet music for “Take Me Out to the Ballgame”:
http://www.free-scores.com/download-sheet-music.php?pdf=20890
This site also features a brief biography of Albert Von Tilzer, the composer, who just happens to be a Hoosier!

Take Me Out to the Ballgame
Sheet Music Cover, 1908

A Wikipedia article about Albert von Tilzer, here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Von_Tilzer

A Wikipedia article about Jack Norworth, here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Norworth

So important to our national identity, the US Post Office issued a stamp in 2008 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the song:
http://www.usps.com/communications/newsroom/localnews/md/md_2008_0717.htm

On Amazon.com, the caption for this book, a historical account of ”Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” says that the song is the third most sung in America after “Happy Birthday” and “Star-Spangled Banner,

Baseball’s Greatest Hit: The Story of Take Me Out to the Ballgame
Written by Robert Thompson, Tim Wiles, Andy Strasberg

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April 6, 2011, “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” as recorded by Edward Meeker, is inducted into the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry.  From the LOC website:

“Take Me Out to the Ball Game,” Edward Meeker, accompanied by the Edison Orchestra (1908)
 This popular song has become an unofficial national anthem of America’s national pastime. It was composed in 1908 and was recorded by all three of the major U.S. record companies, Victor, Columbia and Edison. Few copies of these recordings are now extant, which may indicate that initially the song was not as popular as it was to become later. Comic vocalist Edward Meeker, whose duties for Edison included announcing the titles and artists on hundreds of cylinder recordings, sings on this Edison cylinder recording. Meeker delivers the song in his stentorian, but good-natured baritone, including both verses, which remind us that the song is about a baseball-loving woman.

Link to Libreary of Congress announcement for the National Recording Registry:
http://www.loc.gov/today/pr/2011/11-073.html

Link to Library of Congress:
http://www.loc.gov/index.html

Related Articles:

Take Me Out to the Ballgame, a Singable Picture Book, Inducted Into National Recording Registry
http://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2011/04/09/take-me-out-to-the-ballgame-a-singable-picture-book-inducted-into-national-recording-registry/

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Mandy Patinkin sings the “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” chorus in Yiddish:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXTauo3I7A8