(Beverly Press/ Park Labrea News archival photo)

Albert Von Tilzer, shown in the April 14, 1955, issue of the Park Labrea News, wrote the music for one of the most well-known songs in American history.

“Take me out to the ball game, Take me out with the crowd…”

Perhaps no other song has captured the essence of something so uniquely American in such a brilliantly simplistic way as “Take Me Out to the Ball Game,” a 1908 classic that is  interwoven into the game of baseball. From Little League ballparks to Major League stadiums, the catchy melody and memorable lyrics echo at games across the United States and around the world.

“It’s as American as apple pie, Chevrolet and hot dogs,” said Songwriters Hall of Fame board member Pete Ganbarg, former president of A&R for Atlantic Records. “It’s one of the 10 songs that have been voted most American.”

All 30 Major League Baseball teams play “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” at their stadiums during the seventh-inning stretch, with fans enthusiastically singing along. That tradition dates to 1976 when announcer Harry Caray started singing the tune between the seventh and eighth innings during Chicago White Sox games.

But the song’s history is much longer and illustrious, with a little known local connection. Its composer, Albert Von Tilzer (1878-1956), lived at Park La Brea near the end of his life. On April 14, 1955, the prolific songwriter was featured on the cover of the Park Labrea News, which paid tribute to one of  the all-time greats in music history.

“It seemed everybody in the business was doing a baseball song,” read the accompanying article. “One day, a young man approached Mr. Von Tilzer with a ‘poem’ that he proposed as lyrics for such a song. After reading it, Mr. Von Tilzer told his caller that there was one phrase in the poem that he liked, and if agreeable, he would buy just that. The phrase was ‘one, two, three strikes you’re out at the old ballgame.’ Mr. Von Tilzer turned it over to Jack Norworth to complete the lyrics and with the Von Tilzer lilt a baseball song was given to the world.”

The specifics of the story cannot be verified, but the lyrics to “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” were written by Norworth, a songwriter who partnered with Von Tilzer on the catchy tune. They were living in the Vaudeville Era and were an integral part of historic Tin Pan Alley, a term coined for West 28th Street in New York City, the center of American sheet music publishing in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. According to the Library of Congress, Norworth wrote the lyrics about a girl named Katie Casey who was fanatic about baseball, after seeing a sign advertising baseball while riding a subway train. Published and first recorded by vocalist Edward Meeker for Edison Records in 1908, it became an instant hit, frequently sung on the Vaudeville circuit. Over the ensuing years, the song was recorded by popular artists such as the Andrews Sisters and Bing Crosby.

Von Tilzer enjoyed a long career in music publishing beyond his fame with “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.” The younger brother of Harry Von Tilzer, also a prolific songwriter, he composed scores for Broadway plays such as “Honey Girl,” “The Gingham Girl,” “Adrienne” and “Bye, Bye Bonnie.” Von Tilzer was also a well-known composer of film scores in the 1920s-30s.

The songwriter moved to Los Angeles in the 1930s to be close to the Hollywood movie studios, and continued working on film scores into his final years. He lived in apartments in Beverly Hills and later Park La Brea prior to his death on Oct. 1, 1956.

In the ensuing years, the popularity of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” expanded exponentially. While the song had been played periodically at baseball games, it was Caray, who began the sing-alongs in Chicago’s Comiskey Park in 1976, that made it the quintessential crowd-pleasing component of baseball games that it is today. In the Recording Industry Association of America’s Top 365 Songs of the Twentieth Century, “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” is ranked No. 8.

Von Tilzer and Norworth were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in New York City as members of the inaugural class in 1970. The Songwriters Hall of Fame also inducted the song “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” because of its importance to the American experience.

“One of the reasons that we are so passionate about it at the Songwriters Hall of Fame is that it shows the enduring power of song,” Ganbarg said. “Almost 120 years later, this song is still played every single day of the year. It’s a song that people sing every day, it’s a song people listen to every day. And as soon as a child can walk, talk and hum, one of the first songs they learn is ‘Take Me Out to the Ball Game.’”

Dodger Stadium organist Dieter Ruehle, who is in his 11th season, said Von Tilzer’s contribution to baseball cannot be overstated.

“The song never gets old. It’s such a part of Americana, and there’s just something about it that people enjoy. It’s the catchiness of it, and it is also a song that has been passed down from generation to generation. Parents have sung along with it, and their parents and their parents. It just keeps going. And I think for all those reasons, it’s still with us today,” Ruehle said. “People ask me what my favorite songs are to play, and that’s always right up there, if not being the favorite, because there is something about playing that song that always feels good, whether we are winning or losing. If we’re winning, it’s a little icing on the cake, and if we’re losing, it’s maybe the team isn’t doing so well, but at least we can still stand up and sing together as one big fan base. It is definitely, I’d say, my favorite song to play at Dodger Stadium.”