Lot 329
Take Me Out to the Ball Game. Sheet music for baseball's most famous song, signed and inscribed on the cover by Jack Norworth, who wrote the words, and by Albert von Tilzer, who wrote the music, 12 x 9", no place, no date. Published by Broadway Music Corporation, New York, 1936. Norworth wrote, "To Ken all the best always Jack Norworth" and von Tilzer wrote, "To Kenneth E. Crouch Sincerely Albert von Tilzer." Both men signed boldly with a fountain pen and blue ink. Light age wear.
Norworth, a vaudeville performer and sometimes songwriter, got the inspiration for the song in 1908; while riding the New York City subway, he saw a sign that said "Ballgame today at the polo grounds." Although not a sports fan himself, he recognized the potential of a song about the popular game and quickly wrote the lyrics, then took them to his composer friend, von Tilzer, who wrote the melody. Norworth's wife, vaudeville performer Nora Baye, first sang the song, but Edward Meeker first recorded it, with the title "Ball Game." The song was an instant hit, becoming the number one song in the country for seven weeks in 1908. The chorus of the song has become the unofficial anthem of major league baseball. It is normally sung during the seventh-inning stretch.
A superb piece of baseball memorabilia and the only copy we have seen signed by Norworth and/or von Tilzer.
Estimated Value $2,000 - 3,000.
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| Realized $3,600 |
