In 1858, the first known baseball song was written, "The Base Ball Polka!" It was not quite as famous as Jack Norworth's 1908 classic, "Take Me Out to the Ball Game", which was written on some scrap paper on a train ride to Manhattan, New York. Norworth then provided those paper scrap lyrics to Albert Von Tilzer who composed the music which in turn was published by the York Music Company and before the year was over, a hit song was born.

Jack Norworth was a very successful vaudeville entertainer / songwriter and spent fifteen minutes writing this classic which is sung during the seventh inning stretch at nearly every ball park in the country. In 1927, he changed some lyrics and a second version appeared. Baseball Almanac is proud to present both versions and an actual print of the original sheet music cover.

Did you know that Jack Norworth wrote over 2,500 songs, including "Shine On, Harvest Moon", and several other baseball songs, but none more famous than "Take Me Out to the Ball Game"?

"In the seventh inning fans all get up and sing 'Take Me Out to the Ball Game,' and they're already there. It's really a stupid thing to say and I don't know who made 'em sing it. Why would somebody that's there get up and sing take me out to the ball game? The first person to do it must have been a moron." - Pitcher Larry Anderson

On the fiftieth anniversary of his song, Major League Baseball, Inc. presented Jack Norworth - who attended his first Major League ball game on June 27, 1940 (Brooklyn Dodgers 5 vs. Chicago Cubs 4) - with a gold lifetime ball park pass.