Today In Disney History ~ June 18th
“Casey at the Bat: A Ballad of the Republic Sung in the Year 1888” is a baseball poem written in 1888 byErnest Thayer. First published in The San Francisco Examiner (then called the The Daily Examiner) on June 3, 1888. The poem is about a baseball team from the fictional town of “Mudville” (implied to be the home team) is losing by two runs in its last inning. Both the team and its fans (a crowd of 5,000, according to the poem) believe they can win if Mighty Casey, Mudville’s star player, gets up to bat. However, Casey is scheduled to be the fifth batter of the inning, and the first two batters (Cooney and Barrows) fail to get on base. The next two batters (Flynn and Jimmy Blake) are perceived to be weak hitters with little chance of reaching base to allow Casey a chance to bat.
Surprisingly, Flynn hits a single, and Blake follows with a double that allows Flynn to reach third base. Both runners are now in scoring position and Casey represents the potential winning run. Casey is so sure of his abilities that he does not swing at the first two pitches, both called strikes. On the last pitch, the overconfident Casey strikes out swinging, ending the game and sending the crowd home unhappy.
The Sequel Casey Bats Again is an animated short that first premiered on June 18, 1954. A sequel to the Make Mine Musicsegment Casey at the Bat, it tells the story of Casey’s daughters forming a baseball team and redeeming his reputation. Casey comes to the plate again, this time as the manager of a team comprised of his nine daughters who manage to win despite Casey’s leadership.
“Walt Disney 1946 – Casey at the Bat”
Casey Bats Again
TMSM Today in Graphic by Sherry Rinaldi DeHart; YouTube User Reykjavik1992; victormalkovich
Michele also contributes theme park news for Fox 35 Orlando 11pm news and on the radio on WDBO.
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