This article was corrected to change translation of B’nai Israel to “children of Israel,” not “sons of Israel.”
By Jerry Klinger
The effort to donate ‘Take Me Out To The Ball Game’ historical interpretive markers to various ballparks and teams across America was a strikeout, followed by more strikeouts of baffling rejection.
Baseball has nine innings. Each team has nine chances, with at least 27 up-to-bat opportunities to face down the opposing team’s pitchers’ “competitively malevolent” best efforts to strike them out.
After hitless innings, it was looking like the idea of giving away the markers was going to be a record, nothing but a strikeout game.
JASHP approached multiple teams and ballparks, big and small. The St. Louis Cardinals were initially interested, but then less so, responding that the marker belonged in their museum, not out on the park grounds for the general public. Then the museum stopped responding.
Rookie ball players don’t start out in the majors; they learn the ropes in the minors.
Moving on.
Minor league teams and parks were approached. Some expressed interest. Some did not even respond. Some bluntly rejected the gift. One, shockingly, rejected the marker because the word “Jew” was in it.
Baseball Hall of Famer Lou Gehrig observed, “There is no room in baseball for discrimination. It is our national pastime and a game for all.”
Only the naïve believe there is no discrimination in life, for various reasons. That does not mean it should be accepted, nor that it would be easy to change. Baseball is well known as America’s melting pot sport, even though it has and can still have its lumps.
Albert Von Tilzer, with the seemingly non-Jewish name, was just that, a deliberately chosen non-Jewish name for marketing reasons to get around antisemitism. Albert’s real name was Albert Gumm. Albert’s Polish immigrant parents had their name, Gumbinsky, Americanized. Albert was a nice Jewish boychick born in Indianapolis.
Baseball says JASHP will have 27 up-to-bat chances to find an initial, break the ice home, for the marker.
Frustration may be our (unofficial) middle name, but defeat is not part of our game.
A chance suggestion by Michael Brown, the executive director of the Indiana Jewish Historical Society, with whom JASHP has been placing Jewish historical markers in Indiana, was…did you know…
The Chicago Cubs minor league team in South Bend, Indiana, is probably the only Ball Team and Park in the Country that has its own synagogue. The South Bend Cubs is owned by Andrew Berlin, a shareholder of the major league Chicago Cubs. Berlin is Jewish.
Berlin purchased the team in 2015. The synagogue, Congregation B’nai Israel (Children of Israel), is a long-abandoned synagogue building from the once-thriving Jewish community on the grounds of Four Winds Field in South Bend. A large Star of David is above the doorway.
Berlin purchased the South Bend Cubs and resolved to save the synagogue building by repurposing it as a Cubs Team Store. The shidduch, the match, was a success. The beautiful synagogue and team store, now renamed the Cubs Den, is proudly listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
When the South Bend Cubs were approached about the gift, JASHP did not strike out. We had a home run. The ice jam was broken.
JASHP’s Take Me Out to the Ball Game markers are located, so far, with the Albuquerque Isotopes and the Brooklyn Cyclones. Three other team/park sites are in development.
The dream – someday – a Take Me Out To the Ball Game marker/ or tribute in every major league team in the country.
Baseball is America’s national pastime, a game for all, with no room for discrimination.
The Marker Text:
‘Take Me Out To The Ball Game’ was the 1908 team effort of two friends, Jack Norworth and Albert Von Tilzer. Both men had musical backgrounds; Norworth’s Dad was the Choir Director at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Philadelphia. Von Tilzer was a Jewish man from Indianapolis who composed popular songs.
Norworth, riding the subway to work, saw a sign, Baseball today – Polo Grounds. He imagined a story about Katie Casey. Katie was asked out on a date. She agreed, but only if she could go to the Ball Game. She wanted to root, root, root for the home team. She wanted to eat some peanuts and Cracker Jack. She didn’t care if she ever came back. And if they didn’t win, it would be a shame because it was one, two, three strikes you’re out at the old Ball Game. Katie was enthusiastic and knowledgeable about Baseball. She wanted to sit in the stands. She did not want to be left behind, only to mind the home. Norworth had thrown a societal curveball way ahead of its time.
Norworth asked Von Tilzer to put the lyrics to music. They promoted the song to nationally popular singers like Nora Bayes, vaudeville theaters, and Silent Movie Houses. Audiences sang along.
It quickly became a national hit.
Baseball’s song has been featured in over 1,200 movies, television shows, and commercials. It’s been recorded by more than 400 artists in every musical genre.
Take Me Out to the Ball Game was first sung at a major league game during the 1934 World Series, the St. Louis Cardinals vs. Detroit. Cardinal outfielder Pepper Martin sang it to the thrill of the crowd. The Cardinals went on to win the series.
The 7th inning stretch has been part of Baseball tradition since at least 1869. Bill Veeck owned the Chicago White Sox in 1976. He observed beloved Sox sportscaster Harry Caray silently singing the song during the stretch. His mike was off. Veeck secretly rigged Caray’s booth. The next time Carey sang during the “Stretch,” his far-from-professional voice boomed across the stadium. The fans loved it.
Singing Take Me Out to the Ball Game during the 7th inning stretch has become a national tradition.
“There is no room in baseball for discrimination. It is our national pastime and a game for all.” Lou Gehrig, Baseball Hall of Fame
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Jerry Klinger is the President of the Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation: