Casey at the Bat
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"Casey at the Bat" (subtitled "A Ballad of the Republic") is a poem on the subject of baseball, written in 1888 by Ernest Thayer. It was first published in the San Francisco Examiner on June 3, 1888, but was popularized by DeWolf Hopper in many vaudeville performances; Hopper gave the poem's first stage recitation on August 14, 1888 at New York's Wallack Theatre in the presence of the Chicago and New York baseball teams, the White Stockings and the Giants; August 14, 1888 was also Thayer's 25th birthday. The first recorded version of Casey at the Bat, as sung by Russell Hunting, hit the music charts in 1893. DeWolf Hopper's more famous version was not released until October 1906.
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Premise and plot
The poem is about a baseball team from the fictional town of Mudville, who are losing during the last inning of a game but could win if they can last long enough to let "mighty Casey" get at bat. Casey, their star player, is beloved by the fans and so confident in his abilities that he doesn't swing at the first two pitches, both strikes. As a work the poem encapsulates much of the appeal of baseball, including the involvement of the crowd. Although not well known in its entirety, the last verse has attained something of the status of a classic.
The last verse reads:
- Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright;
- The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light,
- And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout;
- But there is no joy in Mudville—mighty Casey has struck out.
Residents of Stockton, California have often claimed that Mudville was inspired by Stockton, and for the 2002 season, Stockton's California League team was named the Mudville Nine. (Since then, the team's name has reverted to the Stockton Ports.)
Residents of Holliston, Massachusetts have made similar claims, and a rivalry of sorts has developed between the two cities over the location of the poem, if it was either. Thayer did in fact grow up in nearby Worcester, Massachusetts.
Other adaptations, as well as sequels
A month after the poem was published, a parody, "Kelly at the Bat," was published in the Sporting Times. The only changes from the original are substitutions of Kelly for Casey, and Boston for Mudville. Mike "King" Kelly, then of the Boston Beaneaters, was one of baseball's two biggest stars at the time (along with Cap Anson).
Casey At The Bat was adapted into a 1953 opera by American composer William Schuman.
In 1897, Current Literature noted the two versions and said, "The locality, as originally given, is Mudville, not Boston; the latter was substituted to give the poem local color."
Based on Thayer's original, there have been two animated films by Walt Disney: Casey at the Bat (1946), which is a direct adaptation, and Casey Bats Again (1954), in which his daughters redeem his reputation. A parody of the original, replaying the same events from the perspective of the opposing team, was written by Garrison Keillor.
Several other parodies exist: one where Casey gets revenge the next season with the same pitcher (see Casey's Revenge), one including Casey coming to the plate 20 years later getting his revenge, and one taking place in Russia which ends with "Kasey" in a gulag prison.
In 1988, on the 100th anniversary of the poem, Sports Illustrated writer Frank DeFord constructed a fanciful story (later expanded to book form) which posited Katie Casey, the subject of the song Take Me Out to the Ball Game, as being the daughter of the famous slugger from the poem.
Other References
- In the Super Nintendo Entertainment System game EarthBound, the most powerful weapon for the main character is the "Casey bat", but its accuracy is very poor.
- The poem is referenced in passing by John Fogerty in his song "Centerfield." The two lines go as follows:
- Well I spent some time in the Mudville Nine, watching it from the bench.
- You know I took some lumps when the mighty Case struck out.
- The title character (Casey) is also mentioned in Joe Walsh's "Rocky Mountain Way."