The unofficial anthem of “America’s favorite pastime” was written in 1908 by Jack Norworth and Albert Von Tilzer. The lyrics to the song were inspired by an advertisement Norworth saw while riding the subway. In the advertisement a young lady accepts the invitation of a young man to “take her out to the baseball game.”
The song “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” became more popular over the years as vaudeville acts performed it across America. Though, it wasn’t performed at an actual ballgame until 26 years later in 1934 at a high-school game in Los Angeles. Historians believe that the song made its major-league debut later that year.
Today, most versions of the song focus on the all familiar chorus and omit the opening and closing verses about Katie Casey going to the game with her beau.
In 2013, Mike Tompkins was asked to create an arrangement of the old classic in honor of the MLB World Series. Tompkins’ rendition of the song incorporates the voices of real baseball fans, instrumentation created using only Tompkin’s voice, and mixed in samples of the crack of baseball bats as they strike baseballs, the tapping of plates, the sounds of runners sliding and more. Mike’s a capella cover was sponsored by Pepsi and directed by Nathan Kitada and Araon T. Umetani. The official music video is visually stunning and successfully captures the excitement and feeling of playing and watching baseball on a hot summer day.
Tompkins is a Canadian singer, songwriter who produces original a capella songs and renditions of popular hits. Tompkins has been publishing videos to YouTube since 2009 and grew a following of more than 1 million subscribers. His work has also been featured on television shows like the Today Show and The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
