Why seventh inning stretch

So, after the top half of the seventh, Taft stood up to stretch his legs -- and, not wanting to be disrespectful of the highest office in the land, everybody else in attendance did, too. The Senators went on to win that day, the stretch soon became common practice and the rest is history. At least, that's how the legend goes.

Unfortunately for Taft, though, there's another origin story that far predates his trip to the ballpark. In the early s, Brother Jasper Brennan brought the relatively unknown game of baseball to Manhattan College. As both the school's Prefect of Discipline and the team's manager, it was Brennan's responsibility to look after both the players on the field and the students in the stands -- the latter of whom weren't allowed to move or leave their seats until the game was over.

During a game against the semi-pro New York Metropolitans in June of , however, Brother Jasper's conduct policy became untenable. It was a very hot day, and the students became restless after an hour or two in the sun.

So, Brennan came up with a compromise: Before the bottom of the seventh, he called timeout and allowed the students to get up and stretch for a few minutes. This quick break soon became standard at every Manhattan home game, and when New York Giants fans saw it for themselves during an exhibition game between the two teams, they liked the tradition so much that they brought it to the Polo Grounds. To this day, Manhattan proudly claims that it was the birthplace of the seventh-inning stretch -- at an alumni dinner in the s, all members rose and stood in honor of the occasion's th anniversary -- and the timeframe does seem to match up.

As an article in "The Sporting Life" noted : "In most of the large cities, there is a peculiar practice in vogue at baseball games. Also credited with being the first U. According to reports, as the game continued to drag on, the six-foot-two president grew increasingly uncomfortable in the small wooden chair that was no doubt weaning under the weight of its presidential patron. By the middle of the seventh-inning, Taft was unable to bear the pain any longer and stood up to stretch his aching legs.

In those days, the leader of the free world commanded a tremendous amount of reverence and as his fellow spectators noticed him rising, they followed his lead as a sign of respect. A few minutes later, Taft returned to his seat and the game resumed.

Thus the Seventh-Inning Stretch was born! Maybe - maybe not. As often happens with the constant research and rewriting of history, experts sometimes come upon less romantic tales that may be more accurate, but ultimately less entertaining.

Take for instance a manuscript dated that was discovered by historians. In it Harry Wright of the Cincinnati Red Stockings describes a break in the play of a ballgame that sounds very familiar. He wrote, "The spectators all arise between halves of the seventh inning, extend their legs and arms and sometimes walk about.

In so doing they enjoy the relief afforded by relaxation from a long posture upon hard benches. It was written by a very successful songwriter named Jack Norworth who scribbled the lyrics on a scrap piece of paper while riding the train to Manhattan in New York.

Legendary announcer Harry Caray made the song a mainstay during his tenure with the White Sox. Team owner Bill Veeck noticed the announcer liked to hum the song along with the Comiskey Park organist. On one particularly hot and muggy day in , during the seventh inning against a semi-pro team called the Metropolitans, the Prefect noticed his charges becoming restless. To break the tension, he called a time-out in the game and instructed everyone in the bleachers to stand up and unwind.

It worked so well he began calling for a seventh-inning rest period at every game. The Manhattan College custom spread to the major leagues after the New York Giants were charmed by it at an exhibition game. In so doing they enjoy the relief afforded by relaxation from a long posture upon hard benches.

A popular story for the origins of the stretch is that President William Howard Taft at a Washington Senators game in was sore from prolonged sitting and stood up to stretch. Upon seeing the chief executive stand, the rest of the spectators in attendance felt obligated to join the president in his gestures.

This story is set at a far later date than the others, however. By that time the practice was already at least 50 years old. The Tin Pan Alley standard was written by vaudeville star Jack Norworth , who had ironically never attended an actual baseball game prior to writing the song. There is no certain date when the tradition began, but the practice gained exceptional notoriety from broadcaster Harry Caray.

Caray would sing the song to himself in the broadcast booth during the stretch while a play-by-play announcer for the Chicago White Sox. When Caray moved into the Chicago Cubs broadcast booth, he continued the practice, sparking what has become a Cubs tradition by regularly leading the crowd in singing the song in every seventh-inning stretch.

T and Billy Corgan. When the St. The Clydesdales still appear on Opening Day and during the playoffs.