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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 as part of the comic opera Prince Methusalem 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.
Premise and plot The poem is about a baseball team from the fictional town of Mudville, which is losing during the last inning of a game but might win if only the team somehow managed to get "mighty Casey" up to 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. Mudville Residents of Stockton, California, have often claimed that Mudville was inspired by Stockton. Stockton was known for a time as Mudville prior to incorporation in 1850. For the 1902 season, Stockton's California League team was named the Mudville Nine. (Since then, the team's name has reverted to the Stockton Ports.) The minor league baseball team in Visalia, California, also plays games as the Mudville Nine. 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. There is a neighborhood in Holliston called Mudville. Thayer did in fact grow up in nearby Worcester, Massachusetts. Adaptations and 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). There have also been dozens of sequels such as having Casey's wife, son, and daughter at the bat. 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." Casey At The Bat was adapted into a 1953 opera by American composer William Schuman. 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. It describes the hatred of the Mudville team by Dustburg, and tells of how Casey received abuse when he struck out. Several other parodies exist: one where Casey gets revenge the next season with the same pitcher and one including Casey coming to the plate twenty 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. An episode of Tiny Toon Adventures featured a short titled "Buster at the Bat", where Sylvester provides narration as Buster goes up to bat. In this version, the first two strikes are due to Buster signing an autograph the first time and answering his cell phone the second time. However, in the end, Buster hits a home run, much to Sylvester's confusion; Buster replies, "You were expecting me to strike out?! I'm the star of this show!" The poem was later parodied again for an episode of Animaniacs, this time with Wakko as the title character and Yakko narrating. MAD Magazine parodied the poem as Clooney as the Bat; a mockery of George Clooney's role as Batman in Batman and Robin. It was parodied again in 2006 as Barry at the Bat, poking fun at Barry Bonds' alleged involvement in the BALCO scandal. Allen Feinstein composed an adaptation for orchestra with a narrator. | ||||||||
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