Save these dates and join us as Worcester Historical Museum celebrates, “Casey at the Bat,” the Worcester original, the best-known poem in American baseball history, written by Ernest L. Thayer in 1886 at 67 Chatham Street, Worcester.
Friday, June 2 - 6:PM – Casey at Bat Reading at the Worcester Bravehearts, Hanover Insurance Park at Fitton Field, Worcester. At historic Fitton Field ballpark it’s a Friday night game with a pre-game reading by Hank Stolz of “Casey at the Bat.” Tickets for the 6:30pm game are available for purchase online at www.WorcesterBravehearts.com. Don’t miss this this historic reading!
Saturday, June 3 - 2PM – Casey at the Bat: A New Musical by Stephen Murray, Worcester Historical Museum, 30 Elm Street, Worcester.
Worcester Historical Museum celebrates the Worcester original in song! There will be no joy in Mudville, much less Worcester, if you miss this reinterpretation of America’s favorite baseball poem. Baseball uniforms, both old and new, for all ages encouraged. This program is FREE with admission to the Museum. FREE to WHM members.
On June 3, 1888, “Casey at the Bat” first appeared in print on page 4 of the San Francisco Examiner. Signed simply “Phin,” the poem was subtitled “A Ballad of the Republic Sung in the Year 1888.” The verse was written at 67 Chatham Street, Worcester to fulfill the last of Thayer’s commitments to Examiner publisher William Randolph Hearst. Not only had Thayer been in California in Hearst’s employ, the two had been Harvard classmates and members together of the Harvard Lampoon staff. No Worcester resident “could doubt ‘twas Casey at the Bat”--the Worcester original--that soon became a national favorite thanks to performances by DeWolf Hopper (1858-1935), a star of American vaudeville and musical theater. “For Casey, mighty Casey, was advancing to the bat.”
