The Night Casey Was Born: The True Story Behind the Great American Ballad "Casey at the Bat" [Hardcover]

John Evangelist Walsh (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 15, 2007

"Casey at the Bat," the legendary poem detailing the abysmal failure of a small-town baseball hero, has become as much a part of American culture as baseball itself. But until now, little has been written about the circumstances surrounding its creation and its first performance in New York's Wallack's Theater in 1888.

In this incredible new slice of Americana, John Evangelist Walsh gives the story behind the poem, shaping vivid pictures of the poet, the poem's original and favorite performer, New York in the 1880s, and America in the earliest years of its love affair with baseball.

Surveying the day's great comic performers to its most legendary baseballers, from the streets of Manhattan to the zeitgeist of a young America, the story of "Casey" is as dramatic as the poem itself. With an amazing wealth of detail, Walsh explores the road leading to the poem’s first performance and its immediate popularity. Baseball fans, theater lovers, and American history buffs alike will enjoy this dramatic tale of a culturally definitive moment--The Night Casey Was Born.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

It seems likely that the author of this slender volume dedicated to baseball's most famous doggerel would have felt very much at home producing the hagiographic journalism practiced a century ago. Penned in 1888 by young Harvard graduate Ernest L. Thayer, "Casey" was calculated to cash in on the incipient national pastime, then in the throes of its first spasm of widespread popularity. Perhaps the most popular piece of American verse ever written—its only rivals being Clement C. Moore's "A Visit from St. Nicholas" (today known as " 'Twas the Night Before Christmas") and Poe's "The Raven"—"Casey" was not widely hailed upon publication. However, the poem was soon taken up by well-known stage actor DeWolf Hopper. It would be his signature performance piece for decades to come, making him just as much the "father" of "Casey" 's popularity as its actual author. Walsh (Darkling I Listen: The Last Days and Death of John Keats) succeeds at evoking the easy familiarity and rough bonhomie of an era whose baseball and theatrical stars are long since forgotten. He tries his best to heighten the drama of what may not be a book-length subject, connecting Thayer's composition with recent heartbreak, and dedicating a chapter to Hopper's previous success on the stage. Walsh's writing style and pop psychology are almost as quaint as his subject matter, but the origins of "Casey" are appealing in their own right. (Feb.)
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From the Publisher

An amazing and colorful history of "Casey at the Bat"- from the men behind it to the America that embraced it

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Overlook Hardcover (February 15, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1585678937
• ISBN-13: 978-1585678938
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,630,270 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A chronicle of one of the greatest moments in baseball, the creation of "Casey at the Bat", October 31, 2009

By 

Charles Ashbacher (Marion, Iowa United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Night Casey Was Born: The True Story Behind the Great American Ballad "Casey at the Bat" (Hardcover)

Two great moments in baseball are chronicled in this book, the creation of the poem "Casey at the Bat" and the subsequent events that popularized it. No bit of verse better captures the essence of a sport than "Casey." It was written by Ernest L. Thayer and was first published in the "San Francisco Examiner." However, it remained unknown until a recitation of it was added to a performance at Wallack's Theatre in New York. Renowned actor DeWolf Hopper read the epic and that event is the origin of the title.
Even though "Casey" was written over a century ago and when professional baseball was still a relative infant, the moods and experiences expressed in those few lines will always describe the role that baseball plays in the American existence. It is a timeless tale of an event that has been repeated thousands of times since it was written and will be repeated thousands of times in the future. Walsh not only describes the creation of the poem, he has also captured the context of the moment, as America began to recognize a national treasure about the national pastime.