Word: norworth
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Take its creators, for instance. Jack Norworth, the lyricist, started his career doing minstrel shows and vaudeville acts at the turn of the 20th century, just as baseball was making a name for itself. The National Association of Base Ball Players had been established in 1858 and Major League Baseball itself would be founded in 1903. One day while riding a New York subway, Norworth saw a sign that read "Baseball Today - Polo Grounds." And in 15 minutes, he had scribbled the words of his fun-time anthem on the back of an envelope - now on display at the National...
...Norworth still needed music to accompany his verse. He sought the help of his friend Albert von Tilzer, a Broadway songwriter and the creator of popular songs like "The Alcoholic Blues" and "I May Be Gone for a Long, Long Time," whose waltz-like melody made the tune complete. On May 2, 1908, the U.S. Copyright Office received two copies of their song - and most likely filed them away with the hundreds of other odes to baseball that had come before it. (Among the less popular: the largely forgotten "Baseball Polka," created by a Buffalo ballplayer.) "Take...
...wasn't part of any regular tradition as it is these days, but it struck a sentimental chord with baseball fans, reminding them of the glory and heroism of legendary players like Babe Ruth, Ted Williams and Jackie Robinson. In 1958, on the song's 50th anniversary, MLB gave Norworth - who had finally attended his first game in 1940 - a gold lifetime ball park pass...