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Poetry & Song Slide,
Kelly, Slide John W. Kelly, sung by Maggie Cline, 1889 This song was originally written when "King" Kelly was still a player for Boston. But it being the first song written especially for a player, fans sang it no matter where he played. It became a hit in 1891, sung by Maggie Cline, and was for a long time the only rival for the famous "Casey at Bat". I
played a game of baseball, I belong to Casey’s Nine! The
crowd was feeling jolly, the weather it was fine When
the omnibuses landed that day upon the ground. The
game was quickly started, they sent me to the bat. I
made two strikes. Says Casey, “What are you striking at?” I
made the third, the catcher muffed, and to the ground it fell. Then
I ran like a devil to first base, when the gang began to yell . . . Slide,
Kelly, Slide, Your
running’s a disgrace. Slide,
Kelly, Slide, Stay
there, hold your base. If
someone doesn’t steal you, And
your batting doesn’t fail you, They’ll
take you to Australia. Slide,
Kelly, Slide. ‘Twas
in the second inning, they called me in, I think, To
take the catcher’s place, while he went to get a drink. But
something was the matter, sure I couldn’t see the ball, And
the second one that came in broke my muzzle, nose and all. The
crowd up in the grandstand, they yelled with all their might. I
ran towards the clubhouse, I thought there was a fight. ‘Twas
the most unpleasant feeling I ever felt before. Slide,
Kelly, Slide, Your
running’s a disgrace. Slide,
Kelly, Slide, Stay
there, hold your base. If
someone doesn’t steal you, And
your batting doesn’t fail you, They’ll
take you to Australia. Slide,
Kelly, Slide. They
sent me out to center field, I didn’t want to go. The
way my nose was swelling up, I must have been a show! They
said on me depended victory or defeat. If
a blind man was to look at us, he’d know we were beat. Sixty-four
to nothing was the score when we got done, And
everybody there but me said they had lots of fun. The
news got home ahead of me, they heard I was knocked out. The
neighbors carried me in the house and then began to shout . . . Slide,
Kelly, Slide, Your
running’s a disgrace. Slide,
Kelly, Slide, Stay
there, hold your base. If
someone doesn’t steal you, And
your batting doesn’t fail you, They’ll
take you to Australia. Slide,
Kelly, Slide.
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