Happy Birthday, "Take Me Out..."

The venerable baseball anthem Take Me Out to the Ball Game was registered in the U.S. copyright office one hundred years ago today (the same year in which the Chicago Cubs won their most recent World Series).

The song as we know it is actually the chorus from a vaudeville song by Albert Von Tilzer (music) and Jack Norworth (lyrics). The two verses center on the story of Katie Casey, a young woman with baseball fever who gave umpires hell, knew all of the players, and would rather see a baseball game than a show.

For a fun musical challenge, try singing the song starting on the second word "Me out to the ball game take, Me out to the crowd buy. (etc.)" It's really difficult, but a cool party trick.