Seventh Inning Stretch

Baseball can be considered really exciting or extremely boring.  It all depends on who you talk to.  Personally, I find that, in general, the sport is pretty boring.  That doesn’t mean that it is a bad sport though. You just have to be careful to take baseball for what it is. There is nothing in sports that better illustrates what it is than the seventh inning stretch.

Think about it for a second. What happens in the middle of the seventh inning? The fans all stand up and sing a classic song. They stretch. The fans. It seems to me that this was started because people were falling asleep in the middle of games, and the home team wanted to give the fans a reason to cheer. Well, let’s see what the real origin is from the always correct Wikipedia:

The origin of the seventh inning stretch is said to be in the story of Brother Jasper of Mary, F.S.C., the man credited with bringing baseball to Manhattan College in the late 1800s. 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 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 time-out 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, and the rest is history.

Now that we know what is considered to be the truth, we can dissect the amazing song. If there was only one thing that baseball should be known for, it is the completely horrible songs that teams and the league come up with. Just go to Chicago and you’ll know what I’m talking about. I’m not sure which song is more cheesy and brutal. I think I would have to go with the Go Sox Go song. In any case, my point isn’t to bash these songs, it is actually to praise them. For, what other chants/songs are there that can bring grown, drunk adults to the feet to sing. There are probably three outside of baseball, “Don’t Stop Believing,” “Livin’ on a Prayer,” and “Sweet Caroline.” The song “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” is such a classic that you are abused if you don’t sing along. That is what is so amazing about this whole tradition. Fans at the game are forced to stand up and sing. Other than a few cults I know about, there aren’t many public places that can bring people together like this.

P.S. That picture comes from chalifours.com as a gift bouquet.  What an awesome gift!