Casey At The Bat - Blog 11

A number of poets are known for just one poem, but seldom is that one poem
as famous as Casey at the Bat by Ernest Lawrence Thayer. 

 Casey at the Bat is about A baseball team from the fictional town of Mudville 

(implied to be the home team) is losing by two runs with two outs in their last inning. 

Both the team and its 5,000 attended fans believe they can win if only they could 
somehow get "Mighty Casey" (Mudville's star player) up to bat. However, 
Casey was scheduled to be the fifth batter of the inning, and the first 
two batters (Cooney and Barrows) did not reach base. The next two 
batters (Flynn and Jimmy Blake) were perceived to be weak hitters with 
little chance of reaching base to allow Casey at the bat. 

Surprisingly, Flynn hits a single, and Blake follows with a double 
(Flynn reaching third on the play). Both runners were now in scoring 
position and Casey represented the potential winning run. Casey is so 
sure of his abilities that he does not swing at the first two pitches, 
both strikes. On the last pitch, the overconfident Casey strikes out, ending 

the game and sending the crowd home unhappy.

This book would fall into the Poetry genre as the story has condensed language, expression of imaginative thoughts and perceptions, often containing rhythm and other devices of sound, imagery, figurative language. "But there is no joy in Mudville - mighty Casey has struck out." (Thayer, 1985) The illustrations are very cool. They appear to be sketched drawings with chalk smeared to show movement. Very eye catching. 

Classroom Activities:

I would have the kids play baseball trivia and the one who wins gets a Babe Ruth candy bar.

Have them write a poem with any kind of sports team. 

Questions for the students:

Where did Casey live?

What happened at the end of the game?

I really enjoyed this as I have only read the story. I grew up around baseball and know what it's like to be the all "mighty" and fail at the end. This book really shows kids that is all a game and life still goes on.  

Galda, L. Cullinan,  B. E., & Sipe, L.R. (2010). Literature and the Child (7th ed.) Belmont, CA: Wadsworths, Inc.

Thayer, E. (1985). Casey At The Bat. United States of America: Raintree Inc.