1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:05,680 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. 2 00:00:05,840 --> 00:00:09,920 Speaker 1: Hello and Welcome to This Day in History Class, a 3 00:00:10,000 --> 00:00:13,520 Speaker 1: show that rounds the basis of history one day at 4 00:00:13,560 --> 00:00:18,360 Speaker 1: a time. I'm Gabe Luesier, and in this episode, we're 5 00:00:18,360 --> 00:00:22,479 Speaker 1: talking about the most popular baseball poem in history, the 6 00:00:22,560 --> 00:00:33,760 Speaker 1: gripping Saga of Casey at the Bat. The day was 7 00:00:33,880 --> 00:00:39,479 Speaker 1: June third, eighteen eighty eight. Ernest Thayer's Casey at the 8 00:00:39,520 --> 00:00:44,159 Speaker 1: Bat was first published in the San Francisco Examiner. The 9 00:00:44,240 --> 00:00:47,680 Speaker 1: poem was written in the early years of professional baseball 10 00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:50,839 Speaker 1: and shows the prominent place the sport had claimed in 11 00:00:50,880 --> 00:00:55,040 Speaker 1: the American psyche in just a short time. The humorous 12 00:00:55,080 --> 00:00:59,160 Speaker 1: ballad tells the tale of a fictional star player named Casey, 13 00:00:59,440 --> 00:01:02,240 Speaker 1: who stepped to the plate in the final inning, with 14 00:01:02,320 --> 00:01:05,280 Speaker 1: the whole town of Mudville watching and the fate of 15 00:01:05,319 --> 00:01:09,200 Speaker 1: the game on the line. The poem didn't make much 16 00:01:09,200 --> 00:01:12,080 Speaker 1: of an impression on its first printing, but it was 17 00:01:12,160 --> 00:01:16,160 Speaker 1: later popularized through public recitations and has since become one 18 00:01:16,200 --> 00:01:19,760 Speaker 1: of the most celebrated examples of sports poetry in the world. 19 00:01:20,600 --> 00:01:24,280 Speaker 1: It's also been the subject of numerous parodies over the years, 20 00:01:24,600 --> 00:01:29,240 Speaker 1: and has been adapted for music, TV, stage plays, and movies, 21 00:01:29,600 --> 00:01:34,600 Speaker 1: including a nineteen twenty seven animated short from Disney. Ernest 22 00:01:34,760 --> 00:01:39,360 Speaker 1: Lawrence Thayer was born on August fourteenth, eighteen sixty three, 23 00:01:39,680 --> 00:01:44,679 Speaker 1: in Lawrence, Massachusetts. He later attended Harvard University, where he 24 00:01:44,760 --> 00:01:48,400 Speaker 1: served as the editor of the school's famous humor magazine, 25 00:01:48,680 --> 00:01:53,800 Speaker 1: The Harvard Lampoon. After earning his degree in philosophy, Thayer 26 00:01:53,880 --> 00:01:57,560 Speaker 1: accepted a job offer from his friend William Randolph Hurst 27 00:01:57,880 --> 00:02:00,800 Speaker 1: and began writing for the San Francisco agag Examiner in 28 00:02:00,880 --> 00:02:05,120 Speaker 1: eighteen eighty six. He wrote a wide variety of material 29 00:02:05,240 --> 00:02:09,240 Speaker 1: for the paper over the next two years, including sports reports, 30 00:02:09,520 --> 00:02:14,680 Speaker 1: humor columns, editorials, and even advertisements. He opted to use 31 00:02:14,720 --> 00:02:17,560 Speaker 1: a pen name for his credited works, with most of 32 00:02:17,600 --> 00:02:21,560 Speaker 1: his pieces attributed simply to Finn, which was a shortened 33 00:02:21,600 --> 00:02:25,959 Speaker 1: form of his college nickname Finnie. Such was the case 34 00:02:26,040 --> 00:02:29,840 Speaker 1: with Thayer's most famous work for the Examiner, a humorous 35 00:02:29,880 --> 00:02:34,120 Speaker 1: poem about baseball titled Casey at the Bat, A Ballad 36 00:02:34,160 --> 00:02:37,720 Speaker 1: of the Republic, sung in the year eighteen eighty eight. 37 00:02:38,639 --> 00:02:41,560 Speaker 1: It was published on June third of that year, but 38 00:02:41,639 --> 00:02:44,480 Speaker 1: the paper's editors didn't seem to think much of it, 39 00:02:44,720 --> 00:02:46,880 Speaker 1: as they tucked it in the fourth column of the 40 00:02:46,960 --> 00:02:52,080 Speaker 1: fourth page, just before an article titled Prattle. Although not 41 00:02:52,200 --> 00:02:54,960 Speaker 1: a home run with the public, Casey would get another 42 00:02:55,040 --> 00:02:58,040 Speaker 1: turn at bat a few months later, when Thayer's poem 43 00:02:58,160 --> 00:03:01,720 Speaker 1: was reprinted in The New York Sun. The paper only 44 00:03:01,760 --> 00:03:05,320 Speaker 1: published the last eight stanzas of the thirteen stands a poem, 45 00:03:05,600 --> 00:03:08,520 Speaker 1: and since the editors didn't know who Finn was, they 46 00:03:08,600 --> 00:03:12,560 Speaker 1: just signed its author as a noon short for anonymous. 47 00:03:13,080 --> 00:03:16,440 Speaker 1: Even then, the poem went mostly unnoticed by the public, 48 00:03:16,880 --> 00:03:21,680 Speaker 1: with one notable exception. A New York novelist named Archibald 49 00:03:21,760 --> 00:03:25,120 Speaker 1: Gunter clipped out the poem and saved it for some 50 00:03:25,400 --> 00:03:30,080 Speaker 1: undetermined future use. A few weeks later, Gunter came across 51 00:03:30,080 --> 00:03:33,480 Speaker 1: an article about an upcoming performance at the Wallack Theater 52 00:03:33,760 --> 00:03:36,960 Speaker 1: by a personal friend of his, actor in vaudeville star 53 00:03:37,320 --> 00:03:41,120 Speaker 1: de Wolf Hopper. The show was set to take place 54 00:03:41,240 --> 00:03:44,200 Speaker 1: that August, and members from the New York and Chicago 55 00:03:44,280 --> 00:03:49,760 Speaker 1: baseball clubs were expected to attend. Gunter suddenly knew exactly 56 00:03:49,800 --> 00:03:51,960 Speaker 1: what to do with the clipping of Casey that he 57 00:03:52,040 --> 00:03:55,240 Speaker 1: had saved. He passed it along to Hopper ahead of 58 00:03:55,320 --> 00:03:58,360 Speaker 1: the show, believing that the baseball players in the crowd 59 00:03:58,480 --> 00:04:01,720 Speaker 1: would get a kick out of it. Hopper agreed and 60 00:04:01,800 --> 00:04:05,320 Speaker 1: staged the first public performance of the poem that August 61 00:04:06,360 --> 00:04:10,800 Speaker 1: de Wolf. Hopper's recitation made the poem a hit almost overnight, 62 00:04:11,160 --> 00:04:13,280 Speaker 1: and he would go on to recite it at least 63 00:04:13,320 --> 00:04:17,279 Speaker 1: ten thousand more times during his lifetime, though some sources 64 00:04:17,320 --> 00:04:21,560 Speaker 1: say it was more like forty thousand. Many recordings of 65 00:04:21,560 --> 00:04:25,440 Speaker 1: his popular recitations were released over the years, several of 66 00:04:25,480 --> 00:04:29,120 Speaker 1: which are now preserved in the Library of Congress, including 67 00:04:29,200 --> 00:04:31,840 Speaker 1: this clip from a nineteen twenty two recording. 68 00:04:32,720 --> 00:04:38,240 Speaker 2: He outrook, what brilliant nine that day that paw stood 69 00:04:38,480 --> 00:04:42,960 Speaker 2: fall to two with buck one inningma to play, And 70 00:04:43,400 --> 00:04:48,359 Speaker 2: so when Koony died at first and burrowed the same, 71 00:04:49,080 --> 00:04:53,880 Speaker 2: how thickly Highland fell upon the papers of the game, 72 00:04:54,600 --> 00:04:57,840 Speaker 2: How rackling you got up to go and sleep? Just 73 00:04:58,200 --> 00:05:03,880 Speaker 2: fell the red belong to that bold? Wait, bring the 74 00:05:04,120 --> 00:05:08,159 Speaker 2: kernel in the human right have they thought it? Oh? 75 00:05:08,480 --> 00:05:13,840 Speaker 2: Ly chase they caught? But yet now whack that back? Ah, 76 00:05:13,880 --> 00:05:20,920 Speaker 2: we put up even money. Now we're taping, but flim. 77 00:05:20,960 --> 00:05:26,920 Speaker 1: Breed, as you just heard. The poem is essentially a 78 00:05:26,960 --> 00:05:32,120 Speaker 1: game report delivered in the form of rhyming four line stances. 79 00:05:32,200 --> 00:05:34,719 Speaker 1: The audio is a little hard to make out, but 80 00:05:35,000 --> 00:05:38,680 Speaker 1: that was Hopper reciting the first two stances, which read 81 00:05:38,720 --> 00:05:43,359 Speaker 1: as follows. The outlook wasn't brilliant for the Mudville nine 82 00:05:43,440 --> 00:05:46,640 Speaker 1: that day. The score stood four to two, with but 83 00:05:46,880 --> 00:05:50,760 Speaker 1: one inning more to play. And then when Cooney died 84 00:05:50,800 --> 00:05:54,320 Speaker 1: at first and Barrows did the same, a pall like 85 00:05:54,520 --> 00:05:58,839 Speaker 1: silence fell upon the patrons of the game. A straggling 86 00:05:58,960 --> 00:06:02,159 Speaker 1: few got up to Goh in deep despair. The rest 87 00:06:02,600 --> 00:06:05,920 Speaker 1: clung to the hope which springs eternal in the human prest. 88 00:06:06,600 --> 00:06:09,960 Speaker 1: They thought, if only Casey could but get a whack 89 00:06:10,040 --> 00:06:13,679 Speaker 1: at that, we'd put up even money now with Casey 90 00:06:13,800 --> 00:06:18,320 Speaker 1: at the bat. There's a long standing debate over which 91 00:06:18,440 --> 00:06:21,599 Speaker 1: town in which player may have inspired the ones in 92 00:06:21,640 --> 00:06:26,960 Speaker 1: the poem. The two potential models for Mudville are Stockton, California, 93 00:06:27,080 --> 00:06:31,000 Speaker 1: and Holliston, Massachusetts, both of which have pretty good evidence 94 00:06:31,040 --> 00:06:35,320 Speaker 1: to support their claims. Holliston, for instance, used to have 95 00:06:35,360 --> 00:06:38,159 Speaker 1: a neighborhood called Mudville, and it was just down the 96 00:06:38,240 --> 00:06:42,320 Speaker 1: road from where Thayer grew up. Stockton, on the other hand, 97 00:06:42,640 --> 00:06:45,919 Speaker 1: was actually known as Mudville before it was incorporated in 98 00:06:46,000 --> 00:06:49,240 Speaker 1: eighteen fifty, and Thayer was said to have covered the 99 00:06:49,279 --> 00:06:53,760 Speaker 1: town's baseball team during his stint as a reporter. As 100 00:06:53,760 --> 00:06:57,039 Speaker 1: for the Mighty Casey, his name was borrowed from one 101 00:06:57,040 --> 00:07:01,280 Speaker 1: of Thayer's friends, Daniel Casey, and while the author always 102 00:07:01,320 --> 00:07:04,520 Speaker 1: insisted that the character of Casey wasn't based on any 103 00:07:04,560 --> 00:07:08,640 Speaker 1: particular player, many believe he was at least partially inspired 104 00:07:08,839 --> 00:07:13,800 Speaker 1: by Mike King Kelly, an outfielder for the Boston bean Eaters. 105 00:07:15,120 --> 00:07:18,200 Speaker 1: Thayer had covered the team during the eighteen eighty seven 106 00:07:18,360 --> 00:07:21,120 Speaker 1: eighty eight off season, and some of the language he 107 00:07:21,240 --> 00:07:25,240 Speaker 1: used when describing Kelly's at bats was strikingly similar to 108 00:07:25,280 --> 00:07:29,000 Speaker 1: how he wrote about Casey. In fact, Kelly was such 109 00:07:29,040 --> 00:07:32,120 Speaker 1: a ringer for Casey that when the poem was reprinted 110 00:07:32,160 --> 00:07:35,320 Speaker 1: in the New York Sporting Times, the title was changed 111 00:07:35,320 --> 00:07:38,040 Speaker 1: to Kelly at the Bat, and the city of Boston 112 00:07:38,200 --> 00:07:43,000 Speaker 1: was substituted for Mudville. Ernest Thayer wasn't the first or 113 00:07:43,040 --> 00:07:46,480 Speaker 1: the last to write poetry about baseball, but more than 114 00:07:46,520 --> 00:07:50,080 Speaker 1: a century later, his poem is by far the most 115 00:07:50,120 --> 00:07:53,960 Speaker 1: memorable verse on the subject ever written. It's hard to 116 00:07:54,000 --> 00:07:57,600 Speaker 1: pinpoint the exact reason for that enduring appeal, but I 117 00:07:57,600 --> 00:07:59,320 Speaker 1: think it has a lot to do with how the 118 00:07:59,360 --> 00:08:03,560 Speaker 1: poem ends. After making his way to the plate, Casey 119 00:08:03,720 --> 00:08:07,040 Speaker 1: basks in the adoration of the crowd and sneers at 120 00:08:07,040 --> 00:08:12,680 Speaker 1: his opponents. Then, watching with what Thayer describes as haughty grandeur, 121 00:08:13,080 --> 00:08:17,920 Speaker 1: he lets two perfectly good pitches streak right past him. 122 00:08:18,120 --> 00:08:21,440 Speaker 1: Because Casey is just as confident in his ability as 123 00:08:21,480 --> 00:08:24,600 Speaker 1: his fans, he decides to ratchet up the tension and 124 00:08:24,720 --> 00:08:28,120 Speaker 1: maximize the drama by having the whole game come down 125 00:08:28,160 --> 00:08:31,920 Speaker 1: to a single hit. With two of his teammates on base, 126 00:08:32,200 --> 00:08:35,840 Speaker 1: Casey prepares for the third and final pitch, with Thayer 127 00:08:35,920 --> 00:08:40,280 Speaker 1: writing quote, the sneer is gone from Casey's lip. His 128 00:08:40,440 --> 00:08:44,679 Speaker 1: teeth are clenched in hate. He pounds with cruel violence 129 00:08:44,800 --> 00:08:48,320 Speaker 1: his bat upon the plate. And now the pitcher holds 130 00:08:48,360 --> 00:08:51,480 Speaker 1: the ball, and now he lets it go. And now 131 00:08:51,520 --> 00:08:56,040 Speaker 1: the air is shattered by the force of Casey's blow. Oh, 132 00:08:56,240 --> 00:08:59,839 Speaker 1: somewhere in this favored land, the sun is shining bright. 133 00:09:00,440 --> 00:09:04,520 Speaker 1: The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light, 134 00:09:05,240 --> 00:09:09,800 Speaker 1: and somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout. But 135 00:09:09,920 --> 00:09:14,880 Speaker 1: there is no joy in Mudville. Mighty Casey has struck out. 136 00:09:16,600 --> 00:09:19,880 Speaker 1: What seems at first glance like a simple poem about 137 00:09:19,920 --> 00:09:24,439 Speaker 1: baseball can also be interpreted as a cautionary tale about hubris, 138 00:09:25,080 --> 00:09:28,160 Speaker 1: and that reading takes on an even deeper meaning when 139 00:09:28,200 --> 00:09:32,199 Speaker 1: you consider the close connection between the United States and baseball, 140 00:09:32,960 --> 00:09:36,920 Speaker 1: a connection which there himself highlights in the poem's subtitle 141 00:09:37,320 --> 00:09:42,760 Speaker 1: A Ballad of the Republic, but socio political metaphors aside, 142 00:09:42,880 --> 00:09:46,839 Speaker 1: the poem's ending also functions as commentary on the cyclical 143 00:09:46,920 --> 00:09:51,079 Speaker 1: nature of baseball and of pro sports in general. Even 144 00:09:51,120 --> 00:09:54,719 Speaker 1: the most talented player strikes out eventually, and when their 145 00:09:54,760 --> 00:09:57,839 Speaker 1: time in the spotlight draws to a close, the next 146 00:09:57,840 --> 00:10:00,840 Speaker 1: star player is waiting in the wings take their place. 147 00:10:01,760 --> 00:10:04,839 Speaker 1: As de wolf Hopper once put it, quote, there are 148 00:10:04,920 --> 00:10:09,040 Speaker 1: one or more cases in every league, bush League or 149 00:10:09,080 --> 00:10:12,080 Speaker 1: Big League, and there is no day in the playing 150 00:10:12,120 --> 00:10:17,319 Speaker 1: season that this same supreme tragedy, as stark as Aristophanes 151 00:10:17,440 --> 00:10:22,000 Speaker 1: for the moment, does not befall on some field. The 152 00:10:22,040 --> 00:10:25,920 Speaker 1: good news for baseball fans is that even after a loss, 153 00:10:26,160 --> 00:10:30,040 Speaker 1: life goes on, and it's never very long before someone 154 00:10:30,440 --> 00:10:38,160 Speaker 1: somewhere gets their own turn at back. I'm gabeluesiay, and 155 00:10:38,280 --> 00:10:41,680 Speaker 1: hopefully you now know a little more about history today 156 00:10:42,040 --> 00:10:45,000 Speaker 1: than you did yesterday. If you'd like to keep up 157 00:10:45,000 --> 00:10:47,760 Speaker 1: with the show, you can follow us on Twitter, Facebook, 158 00:10:47,800 --> 00:10:52,000 Speaker 1: and Instagram at TDI HC Show, and if you have 159 00:10:52,080 --> 00:10:54,960 Speaker 1: any comments or suggestions, feel free to send them my 160 00:10:55,040 --> 00:10:59,640 Speaker 1: way by writing to This Day at iHeartMedia dot com. 161 00:11:00,000 --> 00:11:02,920 Speaker 1: Thanks to Casby Bias for producing the show, and thanks 162 00:11:02,920 --> 00:11:05,319 Speaker 1: to you for listening. I'll see you back here again 163 00:11:05,360 --> 00:11:08,400 Speaker 1: tomorrow for another day in History class.