![]() ![]() ![]() We do know that Cracker Jack rhymes with ‘never get back’ and for songwriters, it’s all about what rhymes.” Even if you weren’t a fan of baseball as a kid, who couldn’t sing by heart sport’s most iconic song?Īfter the seventh-inning stretch of that first game, I had to buy a bag. But the snack’s appeal has been maintained for more than a century by Jack Norworth’s 1908 classic, “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.” In his book Baseball’s Greatest Hit: The Story of Take Me Out to the Ball Game, Tim Wiles writes, “Did Norworth work any back room deals with Cracker Jack so as to include them in the song? We don’t know. It was brothers Louis and Frederick Rueckheim who founded the snack, and began selling their concoction in 1896 under the tagline, “The More You Eat, the More You Want.” Cracker Jack first appeared at a major league game in 1907, and the beloved prizes were introduced five years later. Cracker Jack is a singular entity-a sublime conglomerate of molasses-flavoured, caramel-coated popcorn and peanuts, a foodstuff more synonymous with a sport than any other. It’s not “Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jacks,” regardless of what everyone sings. And no, the legendary caramel corn is not plural. For me, nothing symbolizes this more than Cracker Jack. The old-timey uniforms, the umpire’s call, the seventh-inning stretch-it feels like time travelling to a place that values its past. And oddly, for someone with next to no connection to the game, no deep history, and no memories that bubble up, I enter a ballpark and feel nostalgic. I feel part of the game’s enduring legacy, its intimate traditions, and its continuity. From the first game to the many since, it isn’t the sudden ecstasy of a home run but the subtle moments of tradition that stand out: like when a pitcher relinquishes the ball to his manager after being pulled, teammates huddling around in support, and the manager hands the ball to the incoming pitcher like the passing of a sacred torch. I was already won over the moment I pushed through the turnstiles and entered the stadium, smelled hotdogs and popcorn, heard the shouts from the aisle vendors, and watched the players position themselves around the diamond. You would think that this moment, nabbing a fly ball at my very first game, would make me an instant fan. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |