The lyrics for Take Me Out to the Ballgame were written by 29-year-old Jack Norwich who worked on Tin Pan Alley in New York. While riding the subway in 1908 he spotted a billboard that read, “Baseball Game Today at the Polo Fields.” Norwich had never been to a baseball game but was always was looking for inspiration for lyrics wherever he went. In those days, the New York Giants played their games at the Polo Field. He reached out to his composer friend, Albert von Tilzer, who also had never attended a baseball game.

The song was an instant hit in 1908. Later that year, a man named Edward Meeker recorded the song for the Edison Phonograph Company. It became hit record and was the top song in the country for seven weeks. In fact, “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” turned out to be the most popular song of the year.

According to historians, it wasn’t until 1934 that “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” was played at a baseball game. It didn’t take place at the Polo Grounds or even New York, but in Los Angeles, at a high school baseball game! It wasn’t until later that year that it made its debut at a Major League Baseball game.

Jack Norworth attended his very first baseball game in 1940, some 32 years after he wrote Take Me Out to the Ballgame!