How baseball got its beat
Throughline
This episode of Throughline explores the surprising history of music in baseball, tracing how walk-up songs and stadium anthems became centr
Key takeaways
- The tradition of music at baseball games began in 1862 with the playing of 'The Star-Spangled Banner' at the Union Grounds, linking patriotism to the sport.
Main topics
- History of music in baseball stadiums
- Origins of walk-up songs
Notable quotes
I think of the ball hitting the bat in a peculiar way. The sound the ball made when it hit the bat for Babe Ruth. It was there for Josh Gibson. There was a sound off the bat.
Take me out to the ballgame... was actually a song about female suffrage.
Conclusion
Music in baseball has evolved from ceremonial anthems and communal singing into personalized,
Transcript preview
Speaker 4 (0:00) This week on Sources and Methods, behind closed doors at the highest levels of the intelligence community on 9-11. We Speaker 1 (0:06) said you can go. If we have to die, we have to die. Speaker 4 (0:10) And how that day is still shaping global events. Speaker 1 (0:13) Difficult decisions were made. Speaker 4 (0:15) We have shortchanged totally our soft power. Listen now to a special episode of Sources and Methods, the national security podcast Speaker 2 (0:22) from NPR. I didn't care much about baseball for a lot of my life. But a few years ago, One song helped change that. Let me take you back to 2022. The Mets, the team I kind of adopted when I married a diehard fan, well, they were having an unusually good season. Speaker 1 (0:42) And a Speaker 2 (0:47) big reason for that was this pitcher on our team back then, Edwin Diaz. Speaker 2 (0:56) Diaz was our closer, which meant he would come in late in the game, usually at a critical moment. Bringing Diaz off the bench was the Mets' way of saying to the other team, fun's over, this game is ours. And so part of his job was to exude confidence, to put all the pressure on the other team's batter. And Diaz had a specific way of doing that, a way that commanded the whole stadium's attention. Speaker 2 (1:23) His walk-up song. Speaker 4 (1:25) As Edwin Diaz gets ready to come in, looking for a save. Speaker 2 (1:30) A snippet of music blasted over the stadium speakers to hype up the crowd. It's often a song the player has picked themselves that says something about who they are or where they're from. It can be earnest. Speaker 8 (1:49) Let's listen to Josh Reddick's new walk-up song. It's a favorite. Speaker 2 (1:53) Or cheeky. And Diaz's walk-up track was this song called Narco. Speaker 2 (2:03) Clips of Diaz walking up to the mound while Narco played in the background went viral. The Mets started handing out plastic trumpets to fans. The team mascots, Mr. and Mrs. Met, these anthropomorphized baseballs, pretended to play along to the trumpet solo while strobe lights flashed in the background. And finally, it got so big that the team brought in one of the song's artists, Timmy Trumpet, from Australia to play the solo live while Diaz made his entrance. Speaker 4 (2:35) Well until last night the Australian Timmy Trump had never attended a baseball game. Now he will get his first view of an Edwin Diaz save opportunity. Speaker 2 (2:47) And if you were in the stands when that song came on, let me tell you, it was electric. And it kind of made me start to pay attention more and lean into the game. If you really stop and think about it, this whole walk-up music thing, it's kind of a weird ritual. But when you put it into context of all the other music you're hearing at the ballpark, it starts to make more sense. Speaker 2 (3:18) Like, from the moment you step into the stadium, you're kind of surrounded by music. Tens of thousands of people are singing together. Fans feel like they're actually becoming a part of what's happening on the field. Speaker 1 (3:37) And so Speaker 2 (3:40) I wanted to know, how and when did music become such a big part of baseball? Speaker 2 (3:47) I'm Randabir Fattah. It's playoff season for Major League Baseball, which the Mets, sadly, will not be playing in. Just not our year. On today's show, we're rewinding through more than 100 years of baseball history. And we'll do it with the help of two people who were there for some of the seminal moments. Major League Baseball's official historian. So I take it you don't love walk-up music. I just want to get that on the record. Speaker 6 (4:13) I do not love walk-up music. Speaker 2 (4:16) and the organist who launched a thousand walk-up songs. It Speaker 3 (4:20) wasn't very nice. I don't know. I was a little bit responsible. Speaker 2 (4:24) That's when we come back. This Speaker 5 (4:33) is Lissa Malloy from Charlestown, New Hampshire. You're listening to ThruLine from NPR. I love listening to ThruLine because it helps me question my own preconceived notions and form a deeper understanding of why and how things developed. Speaker 4 (4:47) This is Terry Gross, host of Fresh Air. I interviewed feminist icon Gloria Steinem several times over the years, and we've compiled a special episode to celebrate her life and legacy. Women become ourselves after 50. We drop a lot of baggage and really become much more our true selves. Find it on the NPR app or wherever you listen to Fresh Air. Speaker 8 (5:11) Looking for love? One New York event promises to find you your perfect match using Palantir, though not affiliated with the actual software company. They Speaker 4 (5:19) can sue me. I could lose everything, but it would all be worth it if at least two people here have a spark. So, no pressure. Speaker 8 (5:27) The facts, myths, and dark jokes surrounding Palantir. Listen to Planet Money on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. Part one, take me out to the ballgame. Speaker 7 (5:44) When I think of going to a baseball game today, Speaker 7 (5:48) I have this like vivid image, right, of like players are warming up. We're in between innings. Got like sweet Caroline playing over the speakers. And some people are singing. Some people are dancing. It's a vibe, right? Speaker 6 (6:07) Well, I do comprehend that, but I can't say that I fully understand it because one of the joys of baseball to me is the silence between half innings. With walk-up music and non-stop audio, the need to secure attention, the attention of the fans is relentless. And the idea of a kid going to a ballgame and being entitled to dream. That may be lost. Speaker 2 (6:38) John Thorne is a legend in the world of baseball history. He's Major League Baseball's official historian. And he writes a blog about baseball and the past called Our Game. The baseball John fell in love with as a kid sounded different than it does today. Speaker 6 (6:58) My first baseball game at a major league level was May 12, 1957, when I went to the polo grounds with my father. Johnny Padres threw a shutout, Duke Snyder hit a homer, and I was in heaven. Speaker 2 (7:15) In fact, the thing that really captivated John was the silence. It made everything else sound so much louder and clearer. Speaker 6 (7:23) I think of the ball hitting the bat in a peculiar way. The sound the ball made when it hit the bat for Babe Ruth. It was there for Josh Gibson. There was a sound off the bat. Speaker 2 (7:45) You might hear the leathery thud of a mitt cushioning a pop fly. A coach yelling at his player to keep running, steal second base. But there was music in baseball. If you knew where to listen for it, it had already been there for decades. Speaker 7 (8:06) Okay, let's go back in time. Well, Speaker 6 (8:07) back in time is where I'm comfortable. Speaker 7 (8:13) Can you take me back to sort of the very beginning of where baseball and music collide? Where's the starting point? Speaker 6 (8:24) The idea that an anthem would be played at a baseball game dates to 1862. The first enclosed ballpark, William Camire's Union Grounds, opened on May 15, 1862 with a band present that played the Star Spangled Banner. Speaker 2 (8:46) John says it's unlikely anyone was singing along. The closest thing to a sound system at the Union Grounds in the 1860s may have been a guy in the field with an old-fashioned megaphone. But it introduced a ritual, a ceremonial place for music at the ballgame. Especially, John points out,