20
2011
Favorite Rites Of Spring: Casey At The Bat
An article by 
One of my favorite Rites of Spring has always been a hearty re-reading of this great baseball classic that dates back over a hundred years ago. Enjoy.
Casey At The Bat
By Ernest Lawrence Thayer, San Francisco Examiner – June 3, 1888
The outlook wasn’t brilliant for the Mudville nine that day;
The score stood four to two with but one inning more to play.
And then when Cooney died at first, and Barrows did the same,
A sickly silence fell upon the patrons of the game.
A straggling few got up to go in deep despair. The rest
Clung to that hope which springs eternal in the human breast;
They thought if only Casey could but get a whack at that–
We’d put up even money now with Casey at the bat.
But Flynn preceded Casey, as did also Jimmy Blake,
And the former was a lulu and the latter was a cake;
So upon that stricken multitude grim melancholy sat,
For there seemed but little chance of Casey’s getting to the bat.
But Flynn let drive a single, to the wonderment of all,
And Blake, the much despis-ed, tore the cover off the ball;
And when the dust had lifted, and the men saw what had occurred,
There was Johnnie safe at second and Flynn a-hugging third.
Then from 5,000 throats and more there rose a lusty yell;
It rumbled through the valley, it rattled in the dell;
It knocked upon the mountain and recoiled upon the flat,
For Casey, mighty Casey, was advancing to the bat.
There was ease in Casey’s manner as he stepped into his place;
There was pride in Casey’s bearing and a smile on Casey’s face.
And when, responding to the cheers, he lightly doffed his hat,
No stranger in the crowd could doubt ’twas Casey at the bat.
Ten thousand eyes were on him as he rubbed his hands with dirt;
Five thousand tongues applauded when he wiped them on his shirt.
Then while the writhing pitcher ground the ball into his hip,
Defiance flashed in Casey’s eye, a sneer curled Casey’s lip.
And now the leather-covered sphere came hurtling through the air,
And Casey stood a-watching it in haughty grandeur there.
Close by the sturdy batsman the ball unheeded sped–
“That ain’t my style,” said Casey. “Strike one,” the umpire said.
From the benches, black with people, there went up a muffled roar,
Like the beating of the storm-waves on a stern and distant shore.
“Kill him! Kill the umpire!” shouted some one on the stand;
And it’s likely they’d have killed him had not Casey raised his hand.
With a smile of Christian charity great Casey’s visage shone;
He stilled the rising tumult; he bade the game go on;
He signaled to the pitcher, and once more the sphereoid flew;
But Casey still ignored it, and the umpire said, “Strike two.”
“Fraud!” cried the maddened thousands, and echo answered fraud;
But one scornful look from Casey and the audience was awed.
They saw his face grow stern and cold, they saw his muscles strain,
And they knew that Casey wouldn’t let that ball go by again.
The sneer is gone from Casey’s lip, his teeth are clenched in hate;
He pounds with cruel violence his bat upon the plate.
And now the pitcher holds the ball, and now he lets it go,
And now the air is shattered by the force of Casey’s blow.
Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright;
The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light,
And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout;
But there is no joy in Mudville –mighty Casey has struck out.
About the Author: Joe DeCaro
I'm a lifelong Mets fan who loves writing and talking about the Amazins' 24/7. From the Miracle in 1969 to the magic of 1986, and even the near misses in '73 and '00, I've experienced it all - the highs and the lows. I started Mets Merized Online in 2005 to feed my addiction. Follow me on Twitter @metsmerized.
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Everytime I read that Images of Dave Kingman flash in my head!
I thought you were going to say David Wright. It fits perfectly, “mighty David has struck out”.
Wow, surprised it took this long.
Its too bad David Wright can’t be like all those guys who have never struck out, ever.
Wright struck out 161 times last season, not even Dave Kingman ever did that. In fact I cant think of ANY Met that ever had more strikeouts in a season than Wright. Think about it. Of his 550 or so at-bats, he struck out 161 times! That’s incredibly bad.
Thanks for taking a light hearted thread and turning it into a bash session……….
No Kingman just struck out 156 times twice in two consecutive seasons!
And he didn’t have a .83 average a .503 SLH and .354 OBP either year…
We know yhou hate David but he isn’t going anywhere in fact your more likely to get banned from posting than Wright is likely to get sent packing…
And striking out 161 times is easy when Barajas and Francouer is batting after you!
I checked and found out that David Wright is now the all time Mets record holder for most strikeouts in a season! Yes that’s right, the Mets have done a great job of not mentioning last season, but those 161 strikeouts were the most strikeouts in a season ever!
Dave Kingman had Joel Youngblood and Bruce Boisclair hitting behind him in those years. And those Mets lineups were the worst in Mets recorded history.
Wright batted third last season abd Bay batted fourth. Barajas and Francoeur never batted behind Wright. When Bay went down, Ike Davis batted behind Wright until Beltran came back. Stiop lying to cover up the fact Wright was the all time whiff king.
Wright has been taking strike one, fouling back strike two and whiffing on slider strike three for a couple of years now.
Despite what sabermetricians say K’s do kill your offense. So does swinging at pitches you cannot reach and are out of the strike zone.
Wright should start swinging at that first pitch strike then pitchers will start him out with something other than a first pitch fastball. He has become terrible in pitchers counts and needs to regain control of the strike zone.
Thank you agee for nailing the real problem. We all know how great Wright can be, but imagine what levels he can attain if he simply executed better during his approach.
I would add one more thing.
Wright getms many of those strikeouts in clutch situations which ultimately costs the team. He needs to relax and treat all his at-bats equally and not get so worked up when the game is on the line.
Awfully touchy aren’t you Donal? One would think you think yurself to be David Wright? Or his lover!!!!! lol
Every time I read this poem, the tone of it always makes me feel like it is going to end differently, but it always ends with “Mighty Casey has struck out” regardless.
Casey at the bat video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2F0qC1-sa0
Try to enjoy this for what it is people and not use it as a tool to bash Met players for a change.
When I was a child back in the 50′s, I remember having a 45 record of Casey and I believe it was narrated by James Earl Jones, but I’m not positive. This poem always takes me back to those years.
I apologize if my comment took away from this post.
I was simply letting people know that Wright could have easily whiffed in that clutch situation just like Mighty Casey did. This poem reminds me of several occasions that were played out in real life time and time again with the winning runs on base and Mighty Wright at the plate providing the inglorious whiff.