Celebrating 'Take Me Out to the Ballgame'

There is but one song about our national pastime that continues to be used regularly since its inception 100 years ago: Jack Norworth's Take Me Out to the Ballgame. Originally sung by Norworth's wife, the song has been reproduced numerous times (as it has every seventh inning at Wrigley since 1982, when broadcaster Harry Caray started the tradition; recently, it has been butchered by the likes of Eddie Vedder, Ozzy Osbourne, Vince Vaughn, and Mike Ditka), and yet, it was penned by an individual who had never seen the game played before. Since the song was written, several teams have produced songs that have incited rally cries and inspired fans to get behind their team. Provided for you here are several of those songs, complete with a Gene Kelly/Frank Sinatra version of Ballgame and the marketable talent of Batting Stance Guy.

5. Batting Stance Guy

4. Go Yankees!

3. Meet the Mets!

2. Go Cubs Go!!

Note about this addition: folk-singer and Cubs fanatic Steve Goodman penned the song in 1984, the first time Chicago played in the playoffs since 1945 (and sadly, the very year Goodman died). For the past 24 years, Cubs fans sing this tune in unison after every Cubs win; it truly is a sight to behold.

1. Take Me Out to the Ballgame

Please Don't Go: The Case for Yankee Stadium

Despite the aura and mystique that Yankee Stadium has bestowed upon its in-house tenants, the Bronx Bombers (26 World Series championships, 39 American League pennants, and a gaggle of Hall of Famers), ‘The House that Ruth Built’ has been privy to several papal visits, the 1925 Notre Dame/Army game altered by the ‘win one for the Gipper’ speech, “The Greatest Game Ever Played” (the NFL’s first overtime contest, a 23 – 17 win by the Johnny Unitas-led Baltimore Colts over the New York Giants), Pele’s tenure as New York Cosmos’ striker from 1975 - 1977, numerous Billy Joel, U2, and Pink Floyd concerts, and boxing matches that featured the likes of Muhammad Ali, Joe Louis, Max Baer, Rocky Graziano, and Sugar Ray Robinson. Although many associate the Stadium with our national pastime, the Yankees’ home field is a sports arena that has attracted audiences of varying interests for nearly 85 years. Renovated in 1975 and 1976, a project funded by benefactor George Steinbrenner (a time during which the Yanks played their home games at Shea), the Stadium has developed an ambiance of winning, professionalism, and poignancy that has earned it the title of the Cathedral of Baseball. July 15, 2008 will mark the last All-Star Game (the Stadium’s fourth) to be played in the Bronx, while September 21 (at the earliest) may in fact be the last game contested at the Stadium, playoff berth notwithstanding. With construction of the new Yankee Stadium to end in early 2009, the old Stadium will be bulldozed, only to be recalled in history books and the minds of baseball fans across the nation. Should this deconstruction take place? This Yankee fan says no. Here’s a look at why:

5. There are no foreseeable plans to construct ‘The Bat’ at the new Stadium site.
Constructed as an aesthetic cover to an eyesore of an exhaust pipe, the 138-foot tall rendering of a Louisville Slugger stands as a meeting place for ticket holders looking to rendezvous with fellow fans sitting in their section before each game. ‘The Bat’ is a landmark by which all fans can relate and easily seek out, as it is the epicenter of the many vendors peddling hot dogs, pretzels, and pinstriped memorabilia outside of the Stadium’s gates. Although current renovations do include the upheaval of Monument Park (a collection of plaques that commemorate Yankee legends) and the inclusion of the trademark frieze atop the scoreboard (the white façade that lines the upper interior of the Stadium), there is no intention to include ‘The Bat’ in the current architectural state of the new Yankee Stadium. In spite of this exemption, the nonchalant uprooting of locker room artifacts and placards for their placement in the new Stadium simply will not be the same—it’s the equivalent of dusting off your old NES games and revisiting them for old time’s sake, knowing that your Xbox 360 collection currently predominates. Just as the old Yankee Stadium has transmuted into a highly identifiable landmark (with pennants and championship-caliber lineups compiled along the way), attempting to recreate the former Yankee aura simply will not cut it knowing what was previously sacrificed in the name of tending to the corporations and suits that will flood the new Stadium. After all, why relinquish a perfectly good product that still works just fine (Yankee Stadium continues to pull in over three million fans on a yearly basis, in spite of the third-world atmosphere surrounding the Stadium’s confines)?

4. Thousands of seats are being removed for more luxury boxes and party suites.
At its peak, Yankee Stadium held an upward of 70,000 fans (in 1942), a far cry from the 57,545 it currently holds. For various reasons (the infrastructure of the Stadium is too fragile to hold such numbers and baseball implemented the 'batter's eye' in all ballparks; hence, the 'black' and loss of hundreds of seats in right-center), Stadium architects were given no other choice but to modify the seating arrangements in order to keep the park up-to-date with its safety codes. The new Yankee Stadium will hold 52,325 fans at maximum capacity, a number that dwindles from the original capacity in light of Steinbrenner and Company's incessant desire to incorporate luxury boxes and party suites along the mezzanine, two measures that allows businesses to keep the Stadium's revenue costs in the black. As is the ongoing trend in the construction of new ballparks, stadiums are constructed with luxury boxes in mind, all in the name of procuring filthy money hand over fist.

3. Shall we call it “The House that A-Rod Built?”

Say this about Alex Rodriguez: with three American League MVP's to his credit (two with the Yankees) and the inevitable onslaught of Barry Bonds's homerun mark, A-Rod is worthy of the spotlight and a place in Cooperstown as one of the game's greatest. Even so, Rodriguez does not, nor will he ever, amass the same kind of 'Ruthian' resume that the Babe did. In light of the Black Sox Scandal in 1919, baseball was on the operating table, a sport in desperate need of a savior. Enter George Herman Ruth. His capacity for clubbing mammoth homeruns lifted the game from the Dead Ball Era and made the pastime worth following again. In 1923, Ruth's third year with the Yankees, the Stadium was constructed, an era that was forever fortified by Babe's dominance as baseball's greatest power hitter. Without the Babe, the Yankees don't go on to win four World Series during his Yankee tenure, nor do fans fathom the namesake that will forever belong to the old Stadium. Alex Rodriguez, arguably the face of the franchise, will usher in a fresh era with the new Stadium's construction, but has a long way to go before he deserves his name hypothetically associated with a ballpark.

2. The Ghosts of Yankee Past won’t take too well to a relocation.
When Yankee captain Derek Jeter waxes nostalgic about the ballpark he so masterfully made his own domain, he fondly speaks of its intangibles, the 'ghosts' who mythically manipulate games in the Yankees' favor. Now, imagine excavating the very grounds these spirits called home for so many years and you get a sense of the horror new Stadium architects are facilitating. Think Poltergeist II, when Craig T. Nelson realizes that the home he purchased in the first film was erected on top of a burial ground for deceased cult members, led by the demagogue pastor Kane. The spirits of these misled cult disciples were not exorcised in the first house and would follow Carol Anne wherever she went. Pretty terrifying, huh? If Yankee brass knew any better, they would ask for Pope Benedict's return to the Bronx in order to perform a service that allows the ghosts of DiMaggio, Mantle, Gehrig, and Ruth to rest peacefully. If not, we're talking a curse of Red Sox proportions.

1. Says loyal season ticket holders everywhere, “You expect me to pay WHAT?”
You better sit for this one. While you're at it, remove anything breakable from your reach, pop a shot of tequila, and prepare a bucket for possible upchuck. Currently, you can 'afford' a seat behind home plate at Yankee Stadium for $250. The same seat in the new Yankee Stadium will cost... (figure will be written out for much-needed emphasis)...TWO THOUSAND, FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS, ten times the original cost!!! Mind you, these seats will be catered, but unless Yankee ownership intends to defray the cost for a year's worth of groceries, you are s%$# out of luck. Many current season ticket holders will be expected to fork up twice the amount they already pay on their ticket plan. If they choose to not pay such a price, then to hell with them; the Steinbrenners will find somebody else that will. For a game that is sustained by the common man, an everyday Joe that can enjoy a game anywhere in the ballpark, whether it be in the bleachers or the upperdeck, the sport of baseball is willing to excise this fanbase in exchange for suits with gargantuan money market accounts. As the Yankees are willing to embrace this trend, you can say goodbye to the Bleacher Creatures that made the Stadium the experience it is today, while you nuzzle up to a yuppie who knows nothing about the game and guzzle that eight dollar brew of yours.

Curses of the Sports World

curse (n.) : the expression of a wish that misfortune, evil, or doom befall a person or a group.

Whether you believe in superstitions or not, a great many organizations and players (not to mention game personnel) have endured a curse long enough that this doom encapsulates their very being. Observe the course of sports history and how curses have affected its timeline.

5. 1940!

Upon winning the Stanley Cup to cap the 1939-1940 season, the New York Rangers would fail to hoist the Cup again for a record 54 years thereafter. As is customary for winners of Lord Stanley's trophy, various players, coaches, and personnel within the organization toted the the prize to numerous hot spots within the city, only to have it stolen, marking the first and only time this has happened in the Cup's history (mind you, the Cup has been used as an ashtray, a champagne flute, and has been dinged up countless times; the Cup itself annually goes through more cosmetic maintenance than the King of Pop). During one sixteen year stretch starting in 1951, the squad would fail to make the playoffs twelve times. The Rangers even lost a contest in the mid-1940's by a score of 15-0 and even started a goaltender who maintained an unheard of 6.20 goals-against-average. Everywhere the Rangers went (especially Nassau Coliseum, where the rival Islanders play), the team was chided with the abhorrent chant of "1940!" Under the helm of Mark Messier, Brian Leetch, Mike Richter and coach Mike Keenan, the Rangers would outlast the Vancouver Canucks in seven games to win the Stanley Cup in 1994, a moment in New York sports to recall forever. Curse ended, a miracle 54 years in the making.

4. The Madden Curse

Every August brings the promise of the monumental release of Madden, a title that has redefined sports role-playing on gaming consoles across the nation. Unfortunately, athletes appearing on the cover of these annual installments have either endured a serious injury or failed to live up to expectations. For some, the 'Madden Curse' has seemingly destroyed careers. Here is the list of the players who have been eerily victimized by the publicity stunt: Daunte Culpepper (banished to the Oakland Raider bench), Marshall Faulk (the one-time answer to Barry Sanders who now calls games on the laughable NFL Network), Shaun Alexander (one of the NFL's most prolific MVP's who has sustained a decline ever since the cover appearance) Donovan McNabb (does the man even have a functioning lower half to his body?), and the notorious Michael Vick (Atlanta's one time Messiah; he ended up breaking his leg in the 2004 preseason and endured, you know, that whole dog-fighting scandal, for which he is serving three-years' jail time). The men listed here weren't mere NFL mortals; they were bonafide superstars. Luckily, the next cover athlete (Brett Favre) has retired, so the curse cannot wholly affect him...unless his ego goes the way of Roger Clemens.

3. The Sports Illustrated Cover Curse

Unless your name is Muhammad Ali or Michael Jordan, who graced the cover of Sports Illustrated a combined 86 times, countless teams and individuals have succumbed to the dreaded SI Cover Curse. The upstart 2005 Cleveland Indians were 15.5 games behind the Chicago White Sox in the standings in July, battling to within 1.5 games in September. Sports Illustrated opted to cover the resurgence prior to the 2005 playoffs. The Indians would then go on to lose six of their next seven games and miss the playoffs by a mere two games in the standings. Need more proof? The 2008 NCAA championship season: March Madness. North Carolina forward Tyler Hansbrough was featured on the cover TWICE during the Tarheels' prospective championship run. North Carolina, arguably the deepest and most talented team in the tourney, would lose an ugly contest in the Final Four to eventual champion Kansas, a loss that prompted the exodus of countless stars. Hansbrough, the epitome of dignity, has opted to stay at Chapel Hill for his senior season, but would later be shown on Sportscenter jumping off a frat house roof into a pool. If your team is in the midst of a hot streak, let us hope they don't make a doom-impending cover of Sports Illustrated to foil it all.

2. The Chicago Cubs and the Curse of the Goat

During Game 4 of the 1945 World Series, Cub fan Billy Sianis purchased two tickets: one for himself and one for his goat. By the fourth inning, after proudly parading his goat around the park, Sianis was personally ejected by owner P.K. Wrigley in lieu of the foul odor emanating from the farm animal. Upon leaving, Sianis infamously remarked,"The Cubs ain't gonna win no more." Ever since, the Cubs have not appeared in a single World Series. This may not explain the Cubs' prior futility (after all, they hadn't won a World Series since 1908 to that point), but the Cubs have been terrible ever since 1945, even despite having rosters amassed with the likes of Ernie Banks, Ryne Sandberg, Andre Dawson, Sammy Sosa, Ron Santo, and Mark Grace. And if that doesn't grind your gears, Cub fans, Chicago's 2008 season was commemorated with a Sports Illustrated cover featuring Kosuke Fukudome. How's that for celebrating 100 years since your last World Series victory?

1. The Curse of the Bambino

In the 1919 season, Red Sox ownership was fed up with star pitcher George Herman Ruth, who openly requested that the team double his salary. In need of a way to finance a potential Broadway smash entitled No, No Nanette (which would not grace the stage until 1925), Sox owner Harry Frazee, after turning down the tempting offer to bring Shoeless Joe Jackson to Fenway, sold Ruth's contract to the New York Yankees for a whopping $100,000. Ruth's homerun prowess emphatically ended the Dead Ball era (he hit 60 homeruns in 1927), gave the Yankees their first championship (1923, the same year Yankee Stadium,"The House that Ruth Built," was constructed) and singlehandedly made fans forget about the Black Sox Scandal of 1919 as baseball entered the high times of the Roaring Twenties. Although Nanette was a success (more so in the the way of a London production than the New York production), Frazee and the Sox would endure 86 years of futility. For every Ted Williams, Carl Yastrzemski, Jim Rice, Carlton Fisk, and Wade Boggs that went through the organization, the Sox were thwarted by the likes of their own (Bill Buckner) and the likes of the Yankees (Bucky Dent, Aaron Boone, and Mariano Rivera). Never has a single transaction in the sports world done so much for the respective success (Yankees) and failure (Red Sox) of two organizations. The mantra of the 2004 Red Sox may have been 'Reverse the Curse,' but not before the Yankees would win 26 championships of their own since the trade of Ruth to the Bombers.

Why the New York Yankees Will Remain 26-Time Champs for a Long Time Coming

Complaining about the New York Yankees' most recent strife is rather unfair when you consider I have witnessed four splendid World Series championships in my 27 years of existence. In fact, from 1996 to 2000, the Joe Torre-led squad maintained a dynasty not seen since the Big Red Machine of the late 1970's. In light of the Yankees' late 90's dominance, baseball has had its share of futility. There are three generations of Chicago Cubs fans that have NEVER seen their ballclub revel in the glory of a championship. Furthermore, not since the double-play combination of Tinkers to Evers to Chance has Chicago even sniffed the possibility of bringing home a World Series, their last title coming in 1908. Since then, our country has endured 18 presidential administrations, involvement in four major wars, a Great Depression, the rise of commercial airline travel, the addition of four states to the Union, the use of automobiles as an acceptable mode of transportation, and six World Series for the Boston Red Sox, the team that once personified losing (although two of those titles were amassed in 2004 and 2007, but what Yankee fan pays attention to THAT?). The New York Yankees of the 1980's were just as pitiful, seeing as the pinstripes of those years were limited by the obsession of signing players to exorbitant contracts (see Rickey Henderson and Dave Winfield). Baseball, like life itself, is dictated by the ebb and flow of cycles. The Yankees of today are beginning to revert to a cycle that doomed them twenty years ago, and it all has to do with five moments that sum up their current string of Atlanta Braves-esque performances (remarkable regular seasons tainted by poor playoff production. Here's looking at you, A-Rod and Giambi).

5. Overvaluing Prospects

The 2008 rendition of the New York Yankees vested a tremendous amount in the likes of Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy to lead them to glory. Two moments in Hughes's first year implied success on a monumental level: (1) through seven innings of a contest against the Texas Rangers, Hughes sustained a no-hitter, only to go down with a hamstring injury that kept him out of action until August; (2) Hughes garnered the only victory (in relief for bust Roger Clemens) the Yankees compiled in the 2007 postseason against the Cleveland Indians. Drooling over such potential, the Yankees all but pencilled him in as a number two starter behind ace Chien-Ming Wang in 2008. Ian Kennedy, on the other hand, had a much smaller body of work: his sparkling 1.89 ERA came in a late-September call-up that lasted for three measly starts. And Kennedy was the answer to an eventual Andy Pettitte or Mike Mussina departure. Now look at them. In twelve starts, the two are a combined 0-7 with an 8.73 ERA. Sure, teams taking a risk on young pitchers will endure growing pains, but consider: Johan Santana could have been had in a package deal for either of these two pitching studs. The only prospect worth such hype is the electric Joba Chamberlain, Mariano Rivera's heir apparent until....

4. Ruining a Good Thing (i.e. The Role of Joba Chamberlain)

Set-up extraordinaire Joba Chamberlain has conveyed such moxie, confidence, and flair that he is all but destined for greatness of epic proportions. In only his second game at Yankee Stadium, Joba threw at Boston third baseman Kevin Youkilis in retaliation for a dirty play he committed innings before. Not only was Joba proving himself as a Yankee, he was doing it on the big stage in the middle of the most heated rivalry in all of sports. This was the start of a career that saw Joba compile a minuscule 0.38 ERA over 24 innings of work in 2007. As baseball's most prolific set-up man, Joba was grooming himself as Rivera's replacement when Mo's contract expires in 2010. And yet, Joba will abandon a role he so magnificently lived up to (as per Yankee brass, who made the decision last night) in order to become a starter. Joba appears to have the mindset to dominate on the major-league level as a starter, but what happens when the likes of Kyle Farnsworth, LaTroy Hawkins, and Russ Ohlendorf are blowing the leads that Chamberlain himself hands to these bums? Relief man Hideki Okajima was the X-factor that led the Red Sox to their 2007 title. The Yankees have now sacrificed their own intangible force by toying with Joba's tenure in pinstripes.

3. Constructing the Star-Studded Roster

In 2001, when the Yankees succumbed to the Arizona Diamondbacks in seven brutal games, the Bombers simply could not hit. In Game 7, when the unbeatable Mariano Rivera was thwarted by a bloop single off the bat of Luis Gonzalez, I was granted a haunting moment no different from a Bill Buckner-like blunder, one that has intruded my sweetest dreams on countless occasions. Rather than attribute this paltry hitting to the sheer brilliance of Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling, the Yankees organization blamed the lineup for its inability to perform in the clutch. This mentality resulted in the Jason Giambi signing, the lead domino in a series of botched acquisitions that were dictated by panic and financial clout. For every transaction that worked in the Yankees' favor (Hideki Matsui and Mike Mussina), the organization was strapped by many others that failed (Jose Contreras, Kyle Farnsworth, Kei Igawa, Randy Johnson, Carl Pavano, Jaret Wright, to name but a few). The Yankees compiled their World Series titles due in part to the play of consummate ball players (Paul O'Neill, David Cone, Bernie Williams, Scott Brosius, Jim Leyritz, Joe Girardi), not superstars. The need to fill each position with an All-Star is what has killed the Yankees over the years, especially when you consider the Alex Rodriguez signing....

2. Getting Bullied by Scott Boras

Hear me out: I am an enormous Alex Rodriguez fan. I am rooting extremely hard for him to overtake Barry Bonds's grasp on the homerun title. But trading for, and eventually signing, Alex Rodriguez has defined the Yankees and their egocentric methods, even if he delivered two MVP's during his tenure with the team. Hell, Bonds won FIVE MVP's while with San Francisco, amounting to ZERO rings for the Giants. Signing A-Rod to a ludicrous contract would suggest that he, not Derek Jeter, should be considered the face of the franchise. And if that is the case, the Yankees will (1) sell a kajillion tickets for the life of A-Rod's contract (which appears to be all the organization cares about anymore) and (2) allow Jeter's professionalism and hustle take a backseat to this superstar craze. Although A-Rod cleaved his association with agent Scott Boras, Rodriguez found himself distracted by Boras's constant push for opting out of his contract with the Yankees, even going so far as to let the story seep into Fox's coverage of the 2007 World Series, an incident that was despicable on Boras's (and partly A-Rod's) behalf. You would think that the young George Steinbrenner was at the helm behind such decisions, but think again.

1. Granting the Keys of the Kingdom to Mr. Hank Steinbrenner

Although this is the first season in which George Steinbrenner has little to no say in the operations of the team he still owns, you would imagine that his poor health allowed for the likes of his sons Hank and Hal to pull the strings long before the 2008 campaign. The man behind the curtain of Oz is now Hank Steinbrenner himself, a man whose decisions and choice of words echo the Big Stein of old. Under his watch, the likes of Joe Torre and Don Mattingly were screwed out of managerial candidacy, paving the way for the Joe Girardi show (a man, unlike Torre, who is ensconcing himself in the spotlight with his own weekly show on the YES Network. Yes, those egomaniacal days are here again!). With Hank running the show, the Yankees are on the fast road toward the laughingstock the organization was in the 1980's, much to the delight of Red Sox Nation, more so to the chagrin of us Yankee fans.