how did the star spangled banner song come to be

#How did the star spangled banner song come to be series

'And by the end, everyone was tossing their caps and celebrating,' Thorn says. It was just this wonderful, spontaneous moment.' And a few fans began singing along with the ‘Star-Spangled Banner.’ And soon, the entire park was singing along.

Boston Red Sox third baseman Fred Thomas. He faced the flag, and he snapped off a military salute. And, since he was active military, he kept his cap on. He had furlough from the Great Lakes training station near Chicago to play in the Series. 'But the Red Sox' third baseman was an active-duty sailor, Fred Thomas. 'And the civilian ballplayers all took off their cap and faced the flag,' Leeke says.

'It was now more suitable for a larger band. 'It had been rejiggered by John Philip Sousa,' Thorn says. It’s important to note that the song was not yet the official national anthem, although most Americans were familiar with it. 'He said that the crowd was yawning until the ‘Star-Spangled Banner’ is spontaneously played by the naval training school band during the seventh-inning stretch.' Marc Ferris recalls the words of a New York Times reporter who was at the game. The crowd of just over 19,000 was unimpressed as Vaughn and Ruth engaged in one of the greatest pitching duels of all time. 'They were paying more attention during the game to a group of Army biplanes doing stunts near the park than they really were to the game,' Leeke says. All the press accounts indicated that the crowd was sitting on its hands.' Babe Ruth pitched Game 1 for the Boston Red Sox in the 1918 World Series. 'You would think that this pitching matchup would stir great anticipation bordering on frenzy,' John Thorn says. Cubs ace Hippo Vaughn took the mound against Red Sox starter Babe Ruth.

'Probably anarchists.'Īfter a rainout, Game 1 of the 1918 World Series began on Sept. 'There had been a bombing of the Federal building in Chicago the day before,' Ferris says. And there were violent anti-war protests, according to historian Marc Ferris. 4, the day the World Series was scheduled to begin, Pittsburgh Pirates prospect and Army aviator Marcus Milligan died after a training exercise crash. 'There just wasn’t much excitement about it at all.'Ĭontributing to the mass ambivalence was the growing list of war dead printed in daily newspapers. 'There wasn’t really that much excitement about the 1918 World Series,' Leeke says. Not long ago, a World Series matchup between the Cubs and Red Sox would have been the most hyped and highly anticipated sporting event in U.S. Game 1 In Chicago Chicago Cubs ace Hippo Vaughn took the mound in Game 1 of the 1918 World Series. 'And Alexander only pitched three games before he ended up in the service.' 'They had traded for Grover Cleveland Alexander before the season,' Leeke says. Jim Leeke says the Cubs had concerns of their own. The Boston Red Sox would face the Chicago Cubs, with Game 1 in Chicago. The Red Sox roster was so depleted that the team wondered if it could even compete with the Cubs. 'But, after the early World Series, everyone was subject to the Work or Fight Rule,' Leeke says. 'And for that reason, the World Series in 1918 begins in September, not October.'Ī temporary exemption was made for players on the two teams that would play in the World Series. 'The owners shortened the season,' says John Thorn. War Department enacted a “Work or Fight Rule,” which required males of draft age to join the military or work in a war-related job. 'And every day, there were enormous headlines about the fighting in France and the casualties,' Leeke says. 'It was just this bloodbath. That number would grow to around 250 later in the season. 'The draft didn’t really begin to bite and deplete the rosters until very late in the season,' says baseball historian Jim Leeke, author of ' From the Dugouts to the Trenches: Baseball During the Great War.' '1918 was a different matter.'īy spring training, about 76 Major Leaguers had joined the armed forces. Soldiers lined up in a trench during World War I. Fans more inclined to think about the national pastime than about the national crisis worried about how the military draft would affect Major League rosters. The 1917 baseball season began five days after the United States entered World War I. So how did the song even come to be played before every game?

'It is interesting that a song that is so frequently sung - and so frequently sung badly - has not aroused more protest against its very existence.' 'I think it is a terrible song,' Thorn says. He has strong feelings about the 'Star-Spangled Banner.' John Thorn is the Official Historian for Major League Baseball.

But did he see how widespread the song would be two centuries later? (AP) This article is more than 3 years old. Francis Scott Key saw the American flag flying over Fort McHenry in Baltimore Harbor during the War of 1812.

#How did the star spangled banner song come to be series