Turn of the Century songwriter Jack Norworth was supposedly inspired by a sign he saw while riding a subway back in 1908 that said “Baseball Today – Polo Grounds” to write the lyrics to “Take Me Out To The Ballgame” ~ a poem that became a song when tune writer Albert Von Tilzer put a melody to it that allowed the little piece to rapidly soar into high regard as the unofficial anthem of baseball ~ an estimation of the piece hat continues strongly through this day. Funny thing is ~ neither Norworth nor Tilzer had ever seen a baseball game in person until after they wrote the song that made their efforts famous.
Makes you wonder. What if Norworth had seen a sign outside the subway that advertised “Horse Racing Today ~ Belmont” ~ or maybe even “Boxing Tonight ~ Madison Square Garden?”
Those two might have come close to fitting into the same Tilzer tune and become the anthems of two sucker bet sports.
Take Me Out To The Horse Track
Secretariat, 1973
Going for the Triple Crown
Take Me Out To The Horse Track!
Belmont’s the name of the game!
Buy me a tote sheet and paper to win!
I wouldn’t mind if you put up the fin!
We’ll get rich, so rich, at the horse track!
Some will lose ~ and ain’t that a shame!
But we’ll WIN, PLACE, SHOW~ RAKE IT IN
With our FAST ~ HORSE ~ FRIENDS!
Take Me Out To The Garden
Gentleman Jim Corbett
Take Me Out To The Garden!
Madison Square is its name!
Buy me a ringside for Corbett-McCoy!
Gentle Jim nails Kid in 5 ~ beef ahoy!
We’ll come back ~ to view all the others,
Spilling brains, guts, nuts, butts and druthers,
In the ring of those Garden fight mothers,
When unconscious was the aim of the game ~ and still is.
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Have a nice day, everybody, and remember to look out the window every now and then. You never know where or when you may catch the fire of inspiration or invitation or both ~ looking straight back into your eyes and aiming directly at you alone. ~ Why is that important? ~ It’s because some of those opportunities are a one-time only open door. And don’t worry. All of us miss some of them. ~ You just don’t want to miss all of them.
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Bill McCurdy
Principal Writer, Editor, Publisher
The Pecan Park Eagle 
February 26, 2019 at 4:45 pm |
Slight correction here, Bill. He may have been a worthy fellow, but the composer of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” was Jack Norworth.
Bill Hickman
February 26, 2019 at 10:36 pm |
Thanks, Bill. I did also know better in this instance, but that isn’t always true or even enough to be editor-free. We all make mistakes and we need to acknowledge them when they happen.
This time it had to do with that little part of my mind that I hope stays sufficiently detached on multiple weekly columns while I’m in the writing process to pick up this sort of error. Just didn’t happen this time.
I do appreciate the chance here to acknowledge the mistake in print,
My apologies to you especially, Jack Norworth, wherever you now may be. Most of the time, your name is as familiar to me as a songwriter as the one that belongs to Francis Scott Key.