"Take Me Out To the Ball Game"

Last night I attended a Chattanooga Lookouts ballgame. Everything was perfect. The Temperature was just right, it wasn’t too humid and as I kicked back with an ice cold coke zero I began to think back on the years I had spent at the baseball field. To be honest, I haven’t attended many games but I have been to enough to know all the traditions. As I began to think about it, most of them were centered around music.

As the baseball game started we all stood for our national anthem and as I glared down into the field and looked for a singer who I would end up disliking for one reason or another, I instead saw 25 trombones. Honest to God, there they were. The stadium filled with the wonderful choir almost as if we were in a cathedral. The sound was marvelous. As it came to a close everyone sat down and murmured to their neighbor about how cool that was and all the little kids were pointing and tugging at their parents shirts asking, “What were those instruments.”

What a great start to any ballgame but the music didn't  end their. Next is the ‘national anthem of baseball’ which is always sung at some point in the game. You all probably have it memorized and if you don’t, I’d suggest memorizing it now so you don’t embarrass yourself later.

“Take me out to the ball game, Take me out with the crowd;

 Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jacks, I don’t care if I never get back.

Let me root, root, root for the home team,

If they don’t win it’s a shame, for it’s one, two, three strikes your out,

At the old ball game.”

It’s one of those songs that puts a smile on every American’s face when they hear it. It gives you somehow pride to be an American. But why is that? It’s just a song with rather corny lyrics and bad grammar but when it’s played everyone sings along excitedly.

Ahhh! Now here is the point to my passage. Music, no matter how cheesy is important. I would argue that nothing else in the world can bring together that many people. I’m sure as I sat there singing that simple tune, there were Democrats and Republicans, Christians and Atheists, Woodwind players and String players happy to just be there. Contrary to what I may have believed, it doesn’t have to be Beethoven Symphony No.9 to be a deep piece of music.