by Marcas Grant

Created on: June 07, 2009   Last Updated: June 14, 2009

No American sport has thrived on legend and tradition like baseball. From the ceremonial first pitch to the singing of "Take Me Out To The Ballgame", the game has its own set of established institutions. Among them is the Seventh Inning Stretch. But where did it come from? Who had the idea of standing and relaxing in the middle of the seventh inning? Like many things in baseball history, as time has passed the answer has faded into myth and legend.

The earliest instance of the stretch goes back to just after the Civil War. The game had grown in popularity, thanks in part to the soldiers who helped it spread. By 1869, the Cincinnati Red Stockings became the country's first professional team. In a letter that was eventually found by baseball historians, player-manager Harry Wright wrote that he noticed fans getting up in the midst of the seventh inning to stretch their legs and walk around. Whether it was an organized activity or just coincidence is unknown.

A more orchestrated version of the stretch is believed to have started later in the century. Brother Jasper of Mary, F.S.C. introduced baseball to Manhattan College and became the school's first coach. During a game in 1882, Manhattan College was playing a game against a semi-pro team known as the Metropolitans. It was a hot, humid day and Brother Jasper noticed the fans becoming restless. So he called timeout before his team came to bat in the bottom of the seventh inning and asked the crowd to stand and stretch before the game continued.

The practice reportedly became a regular practice at Manhattan games, who would annually play an exhibition game at the Polo Grounds - home of the major league New York Giants. Members of the Giants organization were supposedly intrigued by the ritual and instituted it in their own games, eventually starting its spread through the big leagues.

Perhaps the most entertaining theory has roots in Presidential politics. William Howard Taft, America's 27th President, is credited with starting two baseball traditions. In 1910, while attending an Opening Day game between the Washington Senators and Philadelphia Athletics, the umpire handed a ball to Taft and asked him to throw it over home plate. Thus was born the ceremonial first pitch. Since that time, every President has thrown out a first pitch at some point during his term.

However, Taft apparently wasn't finished that day. Being a notoriously large man (he weighed in the neighborhood of 300 pounds), Taft was increasingly uncomfortable in Griffith Stadium's small, wooden seats. By the middle of the seventh inning, he needed to get up to stretch. Everyone around him believed the President was preparing to leave and stood up as a sign of respect. When the President retook his seat, so did the others around him, thereby starting the Seventh Inning Stretch.

In reality, no one knows exactly when or where the Seventh Inning Stretch started. Each theory more than likely is based in some truth and probably has something to do with the tradition's origins. Nonetheless, it remains as much a part of the game of baseball as anything and will remain one of its honored rituals.

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