Showing results by author "Ernest Lawrence Thayer" in All Categories

One of the best-known poems in American literature, "Casey at the Bat", written in 1888 by Ernest Thayer and first published in The San Francisco Examiner on June 3, 1888, later popularized by DeWolf Hopper in many vaudeville performances.

One of America’s favorite pastimes is baseball, and "Casey at the Bat", one of the most famous poems in American history, captures the excitement of the game from start to finish! Tension is high that day in the typical late-19th-century town of Muddville. We enter the ninth inning, the team is behind by two runs, and things are looking grim for the win unless by some miracle the infamous Casey can get up to bat and possibly save the day. The fans are cheering, the crowd is on alert, and hope abounds as the mighty Casey takes his position at the plate.

Thus begins one of the most famous poems in American history: Ernest L. Thayer’s "Casey at the Bat". When the powerful Mudville baseball team enters the ninth inning of their game behind by two runs, things seem pretty grim. And when the first two batters make outs, it looks like their best player, the mighty Casey, won’t even get a chance to win the game for them. Then, two unlikely players get hits, and suddenly the crowd is cheering as Casey strolls to the plate. Casey’s epic at-bat has delighted generations of listeners, young and old.