The Annotated Casey at the Bat

by Martin Gardner

s/t: A Collection of Ballads about the Mighty Casey

Entertaining tribute to the immortal slugger tells the story behind one of America’s best-loved poems. Includes introductory material on author Ernest L. Thayer, complete original version of poem and a profusion of amusing sequels and parodies, among them Casey’s Revenge, by Grantland Rice, Why Casey Whiffed, by Don Fairbairn; and Casey’s Sister at the Bat, by James O’Dea.

Genres: Baseball, Sports, Poetry

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1967

About the author

Martin Gardner was an American mathematics and science writer specializing in recreational mathematics, but with interests encompassing micromagic, stage magic, literature (especially the writings of Lewis Carroll), philosophy, scientific skepticism, and religion. He wrote the Mathematical Games column in Scientific American from 1956 to 1981, and published over 70 books.

Reviews

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quirky book that presents Ernest Thayer's immortal comic poem and numerous examples of the remarkably large number of derivative poems it inspired. Most of the latter are repetitive and mediocre - I wish that later writers had done something more creative with the Casey story, as Ray Bradbury did. I also wanted more background on Thayer, one of literature's greatest one-hit wonders.

[Rich Farrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I guess I expected this to be more along the lines of a Norton Annotated variety with criticism, but I was pleasantly surprised to see this is less annotations (although the notes are well-researched and fascinating) and more anthology of parody poems based on Casey. It was fun to see how different authors spun the tale and added to the Mudville universe. I guess one could say this is early fan fiction in the sense that it adds depth and time to the original.

As far as the notes go, this is one of those excellent books that led me to add several other texts to my to-read list, as well as sound bites and stuff to look up.

At any rate, as my White Sox are chasing history this season toward being statistically the worst team ever to play the game, I took joy in this collection of baseball poems that was an escape from watching actual baseball.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Annotated Casey is a well researched collection of the many variants, sequels and parodies of the classic baseball poem "Casey at the Bat" including the original version penned by Ernest L. Thayer for the San Francisco Examiner's June 3, 1888 edition. Martin Gardner's detailed introduction explores the history and mythology of the Mighty Casey and its unlikely ascension into baseball folklore - a notoriety rivaled only by the legendary Sultan of Swat, George Herman (The Babe) Ruth. I enjoyed reading the book but most of the poems - some of which are very clever - don't hold up as well as the original.

[Josh Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Helpfully informative about the history and background of Thayer's immortal poem. Includes a lot of spin-offs and derivative works (most of which were not that great, but a couple did make me laugh).

[Ron Kaplan · Rating 5 out of 5]

poetry,Casey at the Bat

[Matt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, that was... something. Informative? Baseball-y?

[2.5 stars for being a part of sports history, maybe?]

[Tom Willeford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic collection of Ernest Lawrence Thayer's--and others' --versions of the beloved baseball poem.