It's a long story — as is the story of how "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" became an American staple.
Norworth had never seen a baseball game when he wrote the song's lyrics. He was riding the subway in New York when he saw a billboard for the Polo Grounds, the legendary ballpark where San Francisco's Giants then played. He pulled out a pencil and paper and dashed out the lyrics.
The song was a big hit for the prolific Norworth, who followed it up later that year with another: "Shine On, Harvest Moon."
Norworth didn't see his first baseball game until 1940. And the first time he heard his song performed at a game was in 1958, when the Dodgers, newly arrived from Brooklyn, honored him at the Coliseum during the tune's 50th anniversary. The makers of Cracker Jack presented him with a trophy.
That the song is played at every professional baseball game is a relatively recent phenomenon. The Baseball Hall of Fame dates it to the mid-1970s, when Chicago White Sox owner Bill Veeck, ever the showman, encouraged announcer Harry Caray to serenade the crowd during the seventh-inning stretch. A tradition was born.
Norworth died in 1959 at the age of 80. He was a longtime resident of Laguna Beach, where he founded the city's Little League. Today, teams still compete for the Jack Norworth Trophy — the one he was given the year before his death.
Norworth had never seen a baseball game when he wrote the song's lyrics. He was riding the subway in New York when he saw a billboard for the Polo Grounds, the legendary ballpark where San Francisco's Giants then played. He pulled out a pencil and paper and dashed out the lyrics.
The song was a big hit for the prolific Norworth, who followed it up later that year with another: "Shine On, Harvest Moon."
Norworth didn't see his first baseball game until 1940. And the first time he heard his song performed at a game was in 1958, when the Dodgers, newly arrived from Brooklyn, honored him at the Coliseum during the tune's 50th anniversary. The makers of Cracker Jack presented him with a trophy.
That the song is played at every professional baseball game is a relatively recent phenomenon. The Baseball Hall of Fame dates it to the mid-1970s, when Chicago White Sox owner Bill Veeck, ever the showman, encouraged announcer Harry Caray to serenade the crowd during the seventh-inning stretch. A tradition was born.
Norworth died in 1959 at the age of 80. He was a longtime resident of Laguna Beach, where he founded the city's Little League. Today, teams still compete for the Jack Norworth Trophy — the one he was given the year before his death.
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