A popular song from 1908
Words by James O’Dea
Music by Anna Caldwell
The sheet music:
Accompaniment by Denese Coulbeck:
Lyrics
- If I’m somewhat hanky panky
O’er a game that’s strickly Yankee
When I have explained myself
You’ll blame me not at all
We as barefoot kids have played it
And the fact should be paraded
There is nothing in it
With our own baseball
I’m as dippy and as daffy
As a daffodil in May
When the heroes of the Diamond
Come upon the field to play
Chorus:
Then it’s hats off to Old Mike Donlin
To Wagner, Lajoie and Cobb
Don’t forget Hal Chase and foxy Mister Chance
Who are always on the job
Good old Cy Young we root for
And fielder Jones the same
And we hold first place in our Yankee hearts
For the Stars of the National Game
- In the Giants from Manhattan
In the Cubs as smooth as satin
In the Pirates, Boston Doves, or Cincinnati Reds
In the Brooklyn bunch of Willies
In the Tigers or the Phillies
There you’ll find the lads to turn our silly heads
The American or National
Both leagues are all the same
It is not the leagues we root for
It’s the boys who play the game
Sung by Laurence Rubenstein: