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Thursday, February 4, 2016

Casey At the Bat - There is a Link to George Brett's Kellogg's Cards

On this day in 1893 the first recorded version of the poem Casey at the Bat was released.  The version that most of us know wasn't published until 1906.

I was lucky enough to see a special version of this play in Kansas City in 1994.  The play was there for a while but on only one night there was a special event.  On that night Casey was played by a retired Royal.  Not just any Royal they went all out and got George Brett to play the part of Casey.



Too bad that this event was held before cell phones because I've got no pictures.  We had front row seats at home plate so the pictures would have been amazing if they were allowed during the play.


 Check out the unique signature above





In the play home plate was on the left as the audience watched.  I don't know the theatre term, so I will just leave it at that.  Since that was the case Brett actually batted right-handed as Casey.  Had he stood in his classic left-handed pose, the audience would have only seen his back.  It was great to see his face when he.......  Oh, I don't want to ruin the ending if you've never read the story.  For the ending try taking a trip to your local library.  How's that for a 1970s-1980s PSA - that's public service announcement?  If you prefer Schoolhouse Rock, it will be featured sometime in the blog.

Casey was the right fielder.  Brett played 36 games in the outfield and 11 at shortstop.  I didn't know either of those facts.

Brett got over 3,100 career hits but, like Rod Carew, he missed a lot of games.  Not counting his first year when he played 13 games, Brett averaged 135 games per season over the next 20 years.  So he missed 27 games per year over 20 years or 540 games.  That's well over three missed seasons and lots of hits.        




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