After
the Success of Take Me out to The
Ball Game in 1908, the copycat
sheet music that followed was about
taking your girl to the ball game.
Baseball players hit the
vaudeville stage not only as
singers but writers. Lyrics started
to note baseball stars, and even
fans were immortalized. Modern
baseball song writers hit the stage
of Cooperstown.
The sheet music for
"Brother Noah Gave Out Checks For
Rain" was published in 1907 by
Jos. Morris, of Philadelphia. Words
and Music By Arthur Longbrake, the
song is a Story, of Deacon Jones'
novel idea to raise money to fix
the leaky Church Roof.
The Congregation will have a baseball game on Emancipation Day! One member
of the Congregation, Sister Jones
protests “That am no game for good
church folks to play,” the Good
Deacon sets her straight, this idea
is right out of the "Good Book."
The cover art for "The Great Baseball Song" depicts the Congregation
playing a baseball game with the
church in the background. It was
common for Tin Pan Alley to print
various copies of the same sheet
music featuring different photos of
vaudeville singers. One copy has an
insert picture of Ed Morton. This
copy features Tom Lancaster.
Brother Noah Gave Out Checks for
Rain was recorded in 1907 by Arthur
Collins on the Victor Grand Prize
Black and Gold Label Record.
"The Millionaires" March Two-Step
by C.D. Henninger, was
published in 1908 by Vandersloot
Music Pub. Co., of Williamsport,
PA. One of the earliest promotions
tied to Williamsport baseball
entailed the commissioning of a
music composition to celebrate the
Williamsport Millionaires' 1908
Tri-State League Championship
Season.
The Millionaires ball club finished the 1908 season with a record of
82-45, good for a first place
finish in the Independent Tri-State
League.
A total of 12 ballplayers from this
team played in the major leagues;
Manager/Players Harry Wolverton,
Birdie Cree, Tom Doran, Eddie
Foster, Warren Miller, Tom O'Hara,
Dave Shean, Jack Stansbury, Happy
Townsend, Jack Warhop, Jack Flater,
and Harry Kane.
The Sheet music for
"Come On Play
Ball With Me Dearie," as sung in F.
Ziegfeld Jr's Annual Summer Review
Follies of 1909; written by Edward
Madden and Gus Edwards, was
published by Gus Edwards Music
Publishing Company. Gus Edwards,
Known as “The Star Maker” was an
American composer; songwriter, film
director, vaudevillian, organized
his own theatre companies, and was
a music publisher.
The finale of the first set representing the New York Polo Grounds is
where one of Ziegfeld's biggest
novelties is portrayed. Eva Tanguay
sings the song "Come On Play Ball
With Me Dearie." At the conclusion
of the song, she and the Ziegfeld
beauty girls, about 60 in all,
throw lifelike soft canvas
baseballs stuffed with hay at the
audience. The girls are pelted in
return. The volley is kept up for
several minutes, and it was said
that over 800 baseballs were need
at every performance.
Words by Fred C. Roegge and music
by Berte C. Randall, the sheet
music for
"Hurray For Our Base Ball
Team" was published in 1909 by
Charles I. Davis Music Publisher of
Cleveland, Ohio. The song
"Dedicated to the American and
National Leagues," was written to
work in the name of a local player
or city in the town it was being
performed (e.g. third verse
finishes with "We’ll root for
(local town) that’s no lie Hurray")
The cover features an illustration of a large pennant, with portrait
images of each Major-League
manager,as well as the respective
league presidents, Ban Johnson and
Harry Pulliam. The American League
managers at the top; Nap Lajoie,
Jimmy McAleer, Connie Mack, Fred
Lake, Hughie Jennings, Joe
Cantillion, George Stallings, and
Billy Sullivan. The National League
managers at the bottom; Billy
Murray, Frank Bowerman, Fred
Clarke, Clark Griffith, John
McGraw, Roger Bresnahan, Harry
Lumley, and Frank Chance. Pictured
below the pennant is a
game-in-progress scene from
Chicago's West Side Park.
"I Can't Miss That Ball Game,"
lyrics by George Moriarty, and
music by Joe Cooper, was published
by Harry Cooper Music Publishing
Company in 1910.
Lyricist George Moriarty was a Major League third baseman, who played in
the majors from 1903 to 1916. From
1917 to 1940 Moriarty was an
American League Umpire interrupted
only by a 2-year stint as manager
of the Detroit Tigers. (1927-1928)
The lyrics in the song
"Who's going to pitch? the teacher
said, It's Matty Jimmy cried!"
refers to New York Giants pitcher
Christy Mathewson. The sheet
cover-art by Starmer, depicts four
children in
common attire for the era, watching a baseball
game through holes in a wooden
picket palisade style fence. One
hole remains unoccupied and is
marked, "Jimmy," the boy featured
in the song.
A song written in 1910 by Harry
Breen and Albert Von Tilzer,
"Back To The Bleachers For Mine"
was a big hit on the vaudeville
circuit. Two years earlier Albert
Von Tilzer wrote "Take Me out to
the Ball Game" which became the
official anthem of baseball.
The cover illustration features baseball equipment; fielder's glove,
Catchers mitt, catchers masks, and
ring baseball bats. There are at
least two different covers. This
one pictures vaudeville and silent
films star Violet MacMillan and the
other Eunice Burnham & Charlotte
Greenwood.
Guy Harris "Doc" White pitched for
the Philadelphia Phillies in 1901,
1902, and the Chicago White Sox
from 1903 to 1913. White set the
major League record of Five
consecutive shutouts in 1904 within
a span of 18 days. A record that
would hold up until Don Drysdale
threw six consecutive in 1968.
White also gained some recognition as a composer, having at least four
songs published such as the
bestseller;
"Little Puff of Smoke,
Good Night" in 1910, and
"Gee! It's a Wonderful Game "
in 1911. Both songs made it's debut
on the vaudeville stage-
on August 15, 1910 at the American Music Hall in Chicago. Doc White who
had an "agreeable" baritone voice
performed the two songs on the
vaudeville stage after the 1911
baseball season.
Although the sheet music did not do as well "Gee! It's a Wonderful Game"
was recorded by Dodworth Saxhorn
Band with Juliet Lambert for the
1994 Ken Burns documentary,
Baseball. The sheet music was
published by Jerome H. Remick & Co.
The title cover depicts "Christy"
Columbus watching Christy
Mathewson, and Napoleon ("Mr.
Bonaparte") watching Nap Lajoie. A
black & white picture of "G. Harris
(Doc) White" encircled by a
baseball.
Lyrics written by Dave Wolff, music
by Clarence Jones, the sheet music
for
"That Baseball Rag" was
published by Harold Rossiter Music
Company. The cover illustration, by
"LIPSKI," features a boy watching
the ball game through a knothole in
the fence, and a pennant raised
above it that reads: "WORLD'S
CHAMPIONS 1913."
Nothing to do with the song, the 1913 World Series, featured the
Philadelphia Athletics beating the
New York Giants four games to one.
It was common for Tin Pan Alley to
print various copies of the same
sheetmusic featuring different
photos of vaudeville singers. There
were at least three other covers,
with one picturing vaudeville,
ragtime, musical revue and musical
comedy performer Janet Adair. "That
Baseball Rag" was recorded by
Vaudeville star Arthur Collins on
the Victor Record label.
Words by J.E. Lean, music by Ray
Waters, the sheet music for
"Casey At The Ball Game" was
published by; the Marks-Goldsmith
Company Inc., Music Publishers and
Dealers, Washington DC, in 1914.
"Casey at The Ball Game" was never recorded but performances did make it
to the vaudeville circuit. The song
lyrics about "Bill Casey, ...an
ardent baseball fan, ...always sat
behind the pan... and call all his
men by name" has similarities to
the real life Cincinnati Reds fan
Lycurgus McDowell.
McDowell AKA "Casey Jones," was
Known throughout Ohio for his
passion for the game, was declared
by many to be the greatest baseball
fan on the globe. McDowell's job as
a railroad engineer enabled him to
see the Reds in Chicago, St. Louis
or New York, as he sat alone
rooting loyalty for his team.
McDowell's name was scarcely known
among major league ball players,
all of whom he knew well enough to
call by their first names, until
Bob Bescher a Cincinnati Reds ball
player referred to him as "Casey
Jones," a 1912 song about a
railroad engineer. The name stuck.
Copyrighted by the NY Herald
newspaper, Dolly Dip, a pretty girl
who loves dancing and music, was
featured in the Sunday comic
section from November 1914 to June 1915. "Dolly Dip" was a
feature absolutely unique, for each
adventure was accompanied by an
entirely new piece of "Modern
Music."
The series of Dolly's spirited
adventures, where her dancing
tendencies always save the
situation, is accompanied with a
story line-song lyrics written by Mary Watts. Dolly Dip's
dance escapades are set to music
composed by Sol P. Levy, with new
and original tangoes, one-steps, maxixes, hesitations, and fox
trots. A complete dance in each
weekly installment.
The 1915 Boston Sunday Post Newspaper, one of a number that carried the
Dolly Dip comic-Sheet Music,
featured "A
touch of Tango makes the
whole World spin," with the story
line
"Dolly Dip Opens the Baseball
Season" Which can be
sung to the dance music. The Sheet Music Drawing
was done by Herman Hirschauer,
which illustrates an early 20th
century ball game, with Dolly Dip
throwing a ball from the stands,
and the a caption, "Dolly starts the
1915 Series but, __ the game had to
be postponed."
Words and music by Harry S. Faunce,
the sheet music for
"It’s A Grand Old Game" Sheet
Music was published in 1931 by
Lenox Music Co., 246 Huntington
Avenue, Boston Mass. The song was
introduced by Billy Freestone,
featured soloist with Ted Hanson's
Broadcasting Orchestra over the
Yankee Network radio station in
Massachusetts.
The front cover shows a scene from a World Series game between the New
York Giants and the New York
Yankees in 1923 at Yankee Stadium.
Extra choruses printed on the back include: Boston Braves, Boston Red Sox,
Washington Senators and St Louis
Cardinals. There are references to
players being in the "Baseball Hall
of fame" in this 1931 song, five
years before the hall opened in
Cooperstown in 1936.
Lyrics include "Hack Wilson, the great Babe, are in the Hall of Fame," and
"Chick Hafey, Orsatti, are in the
hall of fame." The honor was given
on paper to players by
sportswriters for great
achievements such as a no hitter,
or leading the league in a
statistical category. Players were
also added to the honor roll of the
"Baseball's Hall Of Fame" by the
American or National League
committee, selecting the most
valuable player each year before
1931 when the MVP award became the
standard.
The sheet music for "Baseball" (America's Favorite Game) was published and
copyrighted in 1939 by Words and
Music Inc. The song written by Tom
Waring, Paul Gibbons, & Graig
Leitch was featured and performed
by the Pennsylvanians, on Fred
Waring's 15 minute Radio Show,
"Chesterfield Pleasure Time.
"Baseball" (America's Favorite
Game) was the first tune Fred Waring and The Pennsylvanians
played on the September 30, 1941
for the NBC Network broadcast. The
last lines of the song, a far cry
from the lyric written for "Take Me
Out to the Ball Game" are "They
sell peanuts and popcorn and
cigarettes too, mostly the brand
that we offer to you. Its Base
Ball, Base Ball Americas Favorite
Game."
The white & blue title sheet pictures Fred Waring, with Poley McClintock,
and Paul Douglas gripping the
handle of a baseball bat in a
"choosing sides" manner. Paul Douglas was the
announcer on the radio show. The
back cover features a Chesterfield
Cigarette ad. The inside of the
sheet Reads;
"Tune in Fred Warings "Chesterfield
Pleasure Time" Broadcast Monday's
through Fridays ... NBC Coast-to
Coast Network"
Another song written by ex-major
league ballplayer, manager, and
umpire, George Moriarty, was
"You're Gonna Win That Ball Game -
Uncle Sam !" The sheet music
was published in 1943, by Forster
Music Publishers of Chicago.
The Newly written "War Song" was first presented in 1942 at a meeting of
sports writers, and radio
announcers. The song was a hit,
copyrighted and published shortly
after in 1943. The song was
"Introduced and featured by
Detroit's popular Comedy quartet
'The Four Dukes,' pictured on the
cover.
Uncle Sam is illustrated swinging a baseball bat just to the right of a
blank base ball with the
instructions, Autograph the Ball."
Inside the front cover are Previews
of the songs "My Best To You" and
"Just To Be Near You."
During WWII, from March
1943, to 1945, the Special Services
Division Army service Forces,
issued "Hit Kits" to U.S. Solders
both home and abroad. The "Hit
Kits" carried words and music of
songs selected by a committee of
prominent musicians. Current
popular hits and old favorites were
included.
"Army Hit Kit Tunes," V-discs, phonographic recordings by prominent
artists of stage, radio and screen
were issue overseas to solders.
Musical instruments were also sent;
pianos, accordions, tambourines,
saxophones, violins, and
harmonicas.
Issued monthly by Special Service Division, Army Service Forces, U.S. Army
the Hit Kits came in two formats.
Pocket size folders, with song
lyrics were distributed among
groups of four or five men,
belonging to the same unit. The
music for piano and voice were
prepared in a standard sheet music
size folders. The contents of this
April 1944, 12 page Army Hit Kit Of Popular
Songs, features seven songs
including the
sheet music for "Take Me Out To The Ball
Game."
Written by Ruth Roberts and Bill
Katz
"Meet The Mets" the official
song of the New York Mets, was
published by Goldenrod Music, Inc.
in 1963.
There was a second publication in 1969, a third in 1991, and again in
1999. The 1969 cover price was
.85¢. There is no cover price on
the 1999 publication, suggesting
that it was from a Shea Stadium
promotional giveaway around the
year 2000.
The front of the Sheet music has an illustration of Mr. Met. The back
tells the story of the song. Fans
Ruth Roberts and Bill Katz penned
the song in 1961 for a contest and
received Mets season tickets and a
“bunch of beer” as compensation
when their entry was selected.
"Willie, Mickey & "The Duke"
(Talking Baseball)" is a song about
New York's three great outfielders
Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, and
Duke Snider. The song also covers
major league baseball from the
1950s to the 1980s. Written by
Terry Cashman, the Sheet music was
published by Blendingwell Music
Corporation in 1981. The song was
released by Lifesong Records during
the 1981 baseball strike.
Terry Cashman, who was honored in Cooperstown as part of Hall of Fame
Weekend 2011, wrote approximately
70 baseball songs. He sang his
timeless hit “Talkin’ Baseball” as
part of the Hall of Fame's Awards
Presentation on July 23, 2011 at
Cooperstown's Doubleday Field.
Cashman, again performed the song at the 1982 Induction Ceremony, singing
in front of inductees Hank Aaron,
Happy Chandler, Travis Jackson and
Frank Robinson. On that occasion,
he also performed a song written
specially for the Hall of Fame,
called “Cooperstown (The Town Where
Baseball Lives).”
Another song which made it to the
Hall Of Fame is John Fogerty's
"Centerfield." In 2010, John
Fogerty became the only musician to
be celebrated at the Hall of Fame
Ceremony when the song
"Centerfield" was honored by the
National Baseball hall of Fame.
Fogerty performed “Centerfield” at the event, with a baseball bat-shaped
guitar which he donated for display
in the museum. The
Sheet music for "Centerfield,"
words and music by John Fogerty was
published by Wenhaa Music Company
in 1985. The sheet includes
professional fake book
arrangements.
The song was recorded by John Fogerty in 1984, and released by Warner
Bros. Records, in 1985, on
Fogerty's 3rd solo album with the
hit singles "Rock and Roll Girls',
and the title track "Centerfield".
Joe DiMaggio, Ty Cobb, and Willie
Mays, all centerfielders, are
mentioned in the Lyrics.
