Seventh-inning stretch

Harry Wright, first to report the seventh-inning stretch in 1869—in the second inning

William Howard Taft, first U.S. president to observe the seventh-inning stretch in 1910

The origin of the seventh-inning stretch tradition is much disputed, and it is difficult to certify any definite history.

One claimant is Brother Jasper (Brennan) of Mary, F.S.C., the man credited with bringing baseball to Manhattan College in New York City. Being the Prefect of Discipline as well as the coach of the team, it fell to Brother Jasper to supervise the student fans at every home game. On one particularly hot and muggy day in June 1882, during the seventh inning against a semi-pro team called the Metropolitans, the Prefect noticed his charges becoming restless. To break the tension, he called a timeout in the game and instructed everyone in the bleachers to stand up and unwind. It worked so well he began calling for a seventh-inning rest period at every game. The Manhattan College custom spread to the major leagues after the New York Giants were charmed by it at an exhibition game.[1][2]

In June 1869 the New York Herald published a report on a game between the Cincinnati Red Stockings and the Brooklyn Eagles (home team): "At the close of the long second inning, the laughable stand up and stretch was indulged in all round the field."[2]

Whether a stretch was observed nationwide is not known, but later in 1869 the Cincinnati Commercial reported on a game that was played on the West Coast between the Red Stockings and the Eagle Club of San Francisco: "One thing noticeable in this game was a ten minutes' intermission at the end of the sixth inning – a dodge to advertise and have the crowd patronize the bar."

However, a letter written in 1869 by Harry Wright (1835–1895), manager of the Cincinnati Red Stockings documented something very similar to a seventh-inning stretch, making the following observation about the Cincinnati fans' ballpark behavior: "The spectators all arise between halves of the seventh inning, extend their legs and arms and sometimes walk about. In so doing they enjoy the relief afforded by relaxation from a long posture upon hard benches." Another tale holds that the stretch was invented by a manager stalling for time to warm up a relief pitcher.[3]

On October 18, 1889, Game 1 of the 1889 World Series saw a seventh-inning stretch after somebody yelled "stretch for luck".

A popular story for the origin of the seventh-inning stretch is that on April 14, 1910, on opening day, 6 ft 2 in (188 cm), 350-pound (160 kg), President William Howard Taft was sore from prolonged sitting at a game between the Washington Senators and the Philadelphia Athletics and stood up to stretch, causing the crowd to feel obligated to join their president in his gestures.[4] This story is set at a far later date than the others, however, so he may only have given the presidential seal of approval to a longstanding tradition; the story that his physical problems forced him to stand up contradict this, but he might have just been waiting for the proper accepted time to relieve his pain; either way, he gave national publicity to the practice.

As to the name, there appears to be no written record of the name "seventh-inning stretch" before 1920, which since at least the late 1870s was called the Lucky Seventh, indicating that the 7th inning was settled on for superstitious reasons.[5]

Jack Norworth (1879–1959) (left), lyricist of the 1908 song "Take Me Out to the Ball Game". It was first sung by Norworth's then-wife, Nora Bayes (right), c. 1910.

In modern baseball, standing up and singing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" during the seventh-inning stretch is a popular tradition. It was first played at a ballpark at a high school in Los Angeles, California in 1934. The composers, Jack Norworth (1879–1959) (lyrics) and Albert Von Tilzer (1878–1956) (music), had both never attended an actual baseball game prior to writing this popular song.[6] Norworth only attended his first Major League game much later in 1940.[7]

There is no certain date when the tradition began, but the practice gained exceptional popularity from broadcaster Harry Caray.[8] Caray would sing the song to himself in the broadcast booth during the stretch while a play-by-play announcer for the Chicago White Sox. After hearing him sing one day, White Sox owner Bill Veeck Jr., the famed baseball promoter, had Caray's microphone turned on so that the ballpark could hear him sing. When Caray moved into the Chicago Cubs broadcast booth, he continued the practice, sparking what has become a Cubs tradition by regularly leading the crowd in singing the song in every seventh-inning stretch. Since his death, the Cubs have invited various celebrities to lead the crowd during the stretch, including James Belushi, John Cusack, Mike Ditka, Michael J. Fox, Bill Murray, Dan Patrick, Ozzy Osbourne, Eddie Vedder, Mr. T and Billy Corgan.

FeRROUS, one of two mascots for the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, the Triple-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies, performs during the seventh-inning stretch at Coca-Cola Park in Allentown, Pennsylvania, August 2018

Many teams will also play a local traditional song either before or after "Take Me Out to the Ball Game". Since 1975, the Baltimore Orioles have often played the raucous John Denver song "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" at the conclusion of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game". During the bridge of the song, in which Denver holds a long note, fans yell "Ooooooooh!" (since the name Orioles is often shortened to "O's".) The Atlanta Braves also play this song after "Take Me Out to the Ball Game".

Jane Jarvis, the organist at the New York Mets' home Shea Stadium from 1964 to 1979, played the "Mexican Hat Dance" during the stretch. After the Mets switched to recorded music, "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" became standard. In recent decades, the Lou Monte tune "Lazy Mary" has followed it, a practice that has continued since the team's move to Citi Field.

When the St. Louis Cardinals were owned by Anheuser-Busch, Busch Memorial Stadium organist Ernie Hays played "Here Comes the King", a commonly recognized jingle for Budweiser beer, during the stretch. On Opening Day, during playoff games and on "big nights" such as games against the Chicago Cubs, a team of Budweiser's mascot Clydesdale horses would also make a circuit of the warning track. Since Anheuser-Busch's sale of the Cardinals in 1996, "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" has been played in the middle of the 7th inning, with "Here Comes The King" at the top of the 8th. Often, "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" is followed by an instrumental rendition of "Meet Me in St. Louis, Louis". The Clydesdales still appear on Opening Day and during the playoffs. The tradition remained upon moving to Busch Stadium in 2006.

The Toronto Blue Jays take the term "seventh-inning stretch" literally, as Health Canada officials lead fans at Rogers Centre in stretching exercises while the club's song "OK Blue Jays" plays before "Take Me Out to the Ball Game".[9]

The Miami Marlins, attempting to mimic the Blue Jays' exercising song in their inaugural year of 1993, created a group of dancers, some former University of Miami Sunsations or Miami Heat dancers, and called the group "The Seventh Inning Stretchers". At the first game this group came onto the field at the top of the 7th inning, and the crowd was encouraged to stand and stretch, and do a choreographed dance to Gloria Estefan's song "Get on Your Feet". The crowd, thinking it was the actual 7th-inning stretch, booed loudly. The group appeared at a second game the following evening, but was booed again and was never seen following that game.

After the Tampa Bay Rays' 1998 home opener, they played the popular Jimmy Buffett song "Fins" after the 6th inning, rather than the 7th-inning stretch. The grounds crew sent on the field after the 6th inning wore tropical clothing, and everyone in the park formed their arms into fins for the "Fins to the left, fins to the right" portions of the song. This tradition was dropped several years later.

The Texas Rangers initially played only "Cotton-Eyed Joe" during the 7th-inning stretch. When the team moved to their new facility in 1994, The Ballpark in Arlington (now Choctaw Stadium), "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" was added to 7th-inning stretch, followed by "Cotton-Eyed Joe". Somewhat unusual for a 7th-inning stretch song, the version of "Cotton-Eyed Joe" played is an instrumental, by Al Dean from the album Plays for Urban Cowboys. Rather than singing along, the crowd claps along and stomps their feet to the tune. Upon moving to Globe Life Field in 2020 amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, they kept the tradition.

Although the New York Yankees play "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" during the seventh-Inning Stretch, it is preceded by "God Bless America" ever since the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center.[10]

The Minnesota Twins play "Little Red Corvette" by Prince, due to the tradition that rookies and newly traded players know the lyrics to the song.[11]

Other clubs that traditionally play songs after "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" include: Cincinnati Reds ("Cincinnati Ohio" – Connie Smith), Milwaukee Brewers ("The Beer Barrel Polka" – in reference to the city's beermaking heritage), Houston Astros ("Deep in the Heart of Texas"), Los Angeles Angels ("Good 4 U" by Olivia Rodrigo), Seattle Mariners ("Can't Hold Us" by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis), the Colorado Rockies (a cover version of "Hey! Baby"), the Pittsburgh Pirates ("We Are Fam-a-lee a homage to the slogan used in the 1979 season) and Washington Nationals ("Take On Me" by A-ha, a song that became popular with Nationals fans during the 2012 season when Michael Morse used it as his walk-up music).

Between the top and bottom of the 6th inning, the New York Yankees play "Y.M.C.A." by Village People while the grounds crew come out and clean the infield. In the chorus, the grounds crew drop their tools and do the "YMCA" dance with their arms. The middle of the 6th inning at Milwaukee Brewers games is time for the Sausage Race, when people running in costumes for the bratwurst, Polish sausage, Italian sausage, hot dog and chorizo get up to 45,000 fans on their feet as they race around the clay dirt near the dugouts of American Family Field. Other teams hold similar races. The Pittsburgh Pirates hold the "Great Pittsburgh Pierogi Race N'At" (also called the Great Pierogi Race) during the sixth inning at home games, where people dressed as cartoon cheese, sauerkraut, jalapeno, potato, onion, and bacon pierogies run around the warning track at PNC Park. This race is often combined with visiting mascots such as the Brewers' sausages or the Nationals' presidents.

• Half-time

• Brother Jasper of Mary, F.S.C and Seventh Inning Stretch, Manhattan College.