Within that decade you had the Home Run Quick Step, the Atlantic Club Polka, Home Run Polka, At the Game of Ball and a myriad of other compositions heralding the newly minted national pastime. Two years later the Live Oak Base Ball Club received a Polka specifically dedicated to them, then the floodgates burst. In any case, Blodgett’s Polka was only the first trickle of composed baseball songs. The lyrics are peak 19 th century, “ The game of Ball hath turn’d the land to sport delighted ways” and was followed by two more songs by the local Glee Club, though their lyrics weren’t recorded. Other songs were sung that day like one by Everett Baker with lyrics celebrating the game between Flour City and Niagara. ![]() Turns out that this Polka was routinely played during Niagara games, as well. I’d be thrilled if someone found an earlier piece though for now, Blodgett holds the title. Blodgett and can be found in the Library of Congress.įrom what I can pin down, this is the first composed song specifically for the sport. The first was “ The Base Ball Polka” as heard above by Composer J.R. The group was celebrating a tournament between the Niagara and Flour City Clubs, and things reportedly got rambunctious – as a group of base ball players would – ending at around one in the morning.Ī rather fantastic speech by the President of Flour City – where he connected base ball to Neptune, Dragons, Mars, and the smoke of battle – and was book-ended by four songs. The first song composed for base ball (note the space between the word) may have been played for the first time on September 26th, 1858 during “ The Banquet for Base Ball” where it was reported over 100 ball players attended. Instead of the Deadball and Integration era, however, you have eras like, well… Baseball’s music, like the sport itself, has evolved with the changing times around them. To find the songs most deserving of a first-ballot induction, voters should understand the history of the tunes. Maybe the Veterans Committee will have a soft spot for them. Alas, Springsteen’s Glory Days, AC/DC’s Hell’s Bells, or even Ray Charles singing America the Beautiful that just feels like baseball on a summer night sadly don’t make the cut for this first ballot. To me, a baseball song has lyrics about the game or is dedicated to it, embodying the heart and soul of the sport not just giving it a passive reference. I think it’s time to vote on the greatest baseball songs the same way the BBWA votes on Hall of Fame Players. Music about the sport stretches back one at least hundred sixty-three years, and as you can imagine there are some songs that truly shine, and many more that (don’t say fall flat) are memorable for different reasons. The song is such a mainstay in our culture that it’s one of only three baseball songs enshrined in Cooperstown – and that should change. It exists in your mind the same way you know how vanilla smells or how a solid hit off a wooden bat sounds. Take Me Out to the Ballgame is like the national anthem in the sense everyone knows the main lyrics without being cognizant they ever learned it. ![]() I’m willing to bet most other fans are in the same boat. I was vaguely aware Take Me Out to the Ballgame had additional lyrics thanks to Ken Burns (like how I loosely know extra lyrics exist to the Fresh Prince theme) but couldn’t recite them for the life of me. Ah, who doesn’t know the opening lines to baseball’s seventh-inning anthem? Where all 30,000 fans (or decidedly fewer depending on location) stand up and crack their backs after sitting on good, hard plastic for nearly two hours.
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