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Should the Chicago Cubs end the practice of the 7th inning guest conductor of "Take Me Out To The Ballgame?"
Results so far:
| No | 81% | 170 votes | Total: 210 votes | |
| Yes | 19% | 40 votes |
No
by Ryan Gray
Created on: April 23, 2008 Last Updated: April 02, 2010
"Alright everybody! Let me hear ya! A One...A Two...A Three..."
Harry Caray's rendition of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame," accompanied by the Wrigley Field crowd in Chicago during the Seventh-Inning Stretch, is one of the great traditions in baseball history. Ending that tradition - regardless of who is leading the performance - would leave a sad note in the baseball history books.
As a baseball fan since I was about five years old, just getting a chance to see a game in person or on television is a great experience for me. (Hearing certain guys call a game on the radio isn't bad, either.) Because of that, I loved the days when I stayed home after school and had the chance to tune in to WGN to catch the end of the afternoon Cubs games.
The first time I heard Harry and Steve Stone on the microphone, I was hooked. Then when Harry entertained the fans during the Seventh-Inning Stretch, I quickly realized that was something I should not miss. His charisma and passion for the game spilled out of the press box whenever he started to sing, and when the fans joined in that made the entire experience addictive.
When Harry died he took a part of every baseball fan to his grave. But, thankfully, team officials did not let the tradition die with him. Some new faces stepped in to become guest conductors during the seventh inning. A few of them were pretty good - Bill Murray did a wonderful job, and I heard a great version of the song from Boyz II Men once. Some were not - Coach Mike Ditka hit a few bumps (and potholes) in the road but still managed to finish the job. The bottom line was that the tradition lived on, and lots of people benefited from it.
The day I went to Wrigley with family members a few years ago I was deprived of the "day game" experience since we sat in the shade under one of the facades. However, all of those thoughts were wiped away during the Seventh-Inning Stretch.
The guest conductor that day was none other than Cubs Hall-of-Famer Ryne Sandberg. He isn't much of a singer, but that didn't matter to anyone in the stadium. Ryno leading "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" at Wrigley on a Saturday afternoon in July. It's one of my best personal memories as a baseball fan.
The past few years, due to an odd arrangement by our satellite television provider, we have been without WGN. That wiped out nearly all of the Cubs games available at our house; but my work hours these days don't allow me to watch afternoon baseball through the week anyway. Despite all of that, I can still hear those old broadcasts from the Windy City as if they were happening right now. And I'm concentrating on every word.
"For it's one...two...three strikes you're out at the old ballgame! Good job everybody! Now, let's get some runs so we can beat these guys."
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Yes
by Luke Rasmussen
Created on: June 14, 2008 Last Updated: October 31, 2008
Honestly, I wouldn't mind getting rid of the whole Take Me Out to the Ballgame thing period. Well, maybe not - but the way the Chicago Cubs have done it since Harry Caray passed away, it's been nothing short of passe.
Caray couldn't sing worth a lick. I watched him on WGN so many times you wouldn't believe it. Matter of fact, sometimes I just watched the Cubs on WGN just for Harry Caray and the seventh inning stretch.
I think we all were devastated at his passing. Such an animated broadcaster, with his huge rimmed glasses and unforgettable pronounciation of "Holy Cow," Harry was one of the best. The singing of the seventh inning stretch from the pressbox truly was his mark on the baseball world; no one else does it like that.
Personally, I think the Cubs should have completely axed the singing of the stretch from the pressbox the day after he died. As I said, it was his mark on the baseball world. No one else was ever going to do it like him. I think the Cubs should have done it like everybody else, have some little kid on the pitcher's mound that's won some contest.
The Minnesota Wild NHL club does something similar to what the Cubs are doing now. Prior to each Wild home game, someone stands on the platform high above the 200 level, and leads 19,000 rabid hockey fans in saying "Let's Play Hockey." That phrase hails all the way back to the old Minnesota North Stars and the Met Center.
His name was Bob Utecht. He said those words prior to every North Stars home game for years. Mr. Utecht actually passed away June 23 of last year. The Wild have been doing it long before his passing, and he has occasionally been on the perch at the X saying those words.
The "Let's Play Hockey" thing for the Wild is a bit different than the seventh inning stretch for the Cubs, however. Mr. Utecht had been battling illness for years before his passing. And, it might even be safe to say that Mr. Utecht was only associated with the North Stars and their fans. The Wild were the new kid in town, time for someone else to take the helm.
But for years Caray sang those words, albeit off-key, for decades from the pressbox at Wrigley. It was him. It was only him. It seems to me that continuing the tradition in the way he did it, is a bit disrespectful.
Of course, Cubs fans would probably tell you, "it's the way he would have wanted it." Maybe so, but no one is ever going to touch the hearts of Cubs fans with the song like Caray did. There was something special about the way he did it - to have someone else singing the song from the box at Wrigley; it just doesn't seem the same.
I will always be a fan of the way Harry Caray did it. I don't even watch Cubs baseball anymore since Harry's passing. It's not the same. Personally, I think the tradition should be retired, and done just like every other MLB team. Because, after all, it seems that ever since Harry's passing, the Cubs are just like every other MLB team.
And really, who else comes to mind when you hear, "And one...and two...and 'Take Me Out to the Ballgame"?
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