It’s a warm summer night, the top of the seventh inning has just concluded, and the organ begins to ring throughout the stadium. It’s time to whip out the singing voice for one of America’s most iconic tunes — “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.”
At a time when baseball fandom was overwhelmingly male-dominated, the character of Katie stood out as an unusual creation for the era.
Yet few baseball fans, let alone Americans at large, know the true history behind this 118-year-old symbol of our country’s pastime.
The story goes that Jack Norworth, author of the song, had never attended a baseball game when he wrote the lyrics. He was inspired by a sign reading “Baseball Today — Polo Grounds” while riding a New York subway train in 1908. Norworth quickly developed the song’s lyrics with Albert Von Tilzer composing the music.
