Take Me Out To The Ball Game

My cousin Andrea, a lifelong Mets fan, reminded me of the lyrics to various versions of Meet the Mets. The words to the song are ingrained in my brain, but until I saw them in front of me, I never paid attention to this line: “Bring your kiddies, Bring your wife”. The song was co-written by a woman. This line infers that it’s being sung to men. Are women excluded from independently going to a game? The lyrics were updated in the mid 1980’s and I believe the version we hear today is sung by Joy Askew who sang with Joe Jackson during his “Steppin' Out” era. Knowing so many women who are passionate about baseball, it leads me to the most famous baseball song, “Take Me Out To the Ball Game”. Here is a wonderful take on the 1927 version of the song, lead vocals by Theresa James who is joined by Stuart Ziff. Ziff is a soulful songwriter and the lead guitarist for WAR. According to Wikipedia, these were the original 1908 lyrics

Katie Casey was baseball mad,
Had the fever and had it bad…

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…

The updated 1927 lyrics
Nelly Kelly loved baseball games,
Knew the players, knew all their names.
You could see her there ev'ry day,
Shout "Hurray"
When they'd play.
Her boyfriend by the name of Joe
Said, "To Coney Isle, dear, let's go",
Then Nelly started to fret and pout,
And to him, I heard her shout: Take Me Out…

These additional lyrics are rarely heard, but the song was written about a woman who wanted nothing more that to go to a baseball game. I can relate. Game Five NLCS. Glavin gets four days rest. Let’s Go Mets.