Seventh Inning Stretch

The seventh-inning stretch: a baseball tradition between the halves of the seventh inning.

In baseball in the United States and Canada, the seventh-inning stretch (also known as the Lucky 7 in Japan and South Korea) is a long-standing tradition that takes place between the halves of the seventh inning of a game. Fans generally stand up and stretch out their arms and legs and sometimes walk around. It is a popular time to get a late-game snack or an alcoholic beverage, as alcohol sales often cease after the last out of the seventh inning. The stretch also serves as a short break for the players.

Quick Facts

Timing

After top of 7th inning

Song

"Take Me Out to the Ball Game"

Participants

Fans
Players
Band

Lore & Background

The origin of the seventh-inning stretch tradition is much disputed, and it is difficult to certify any definite history. One claimant is Brother Jasper (Brennan) of Mary, F.S.C., who in June 1882 called a timeout during the seventh inning of a game at Manhattan University. In June 1869 the New York Herald reported a 'laughable stand up and stretch' in the second inning of a game. A letter written in 1869 by Harry Wright documented spectators arising between halves of the seventh inning.

Another tale holds that the stretch was invented by a manager stalling for time to warm up a relief pitcher. On October 18, 1889, Game 1 of the 1889 World Series saw a seventh-inning stretch after somebody yelled 'stretch for luck'. A popular story involves President William Howard Taft standing up to stretch on April 14, 1910, though this date is later than other accounts. There appears to be no written record of the term 'seventh-inning stretch' before 1920.

Reader's Guide

Most ballparks in professional baseball mark this point of the game by playing the crowd sing-along song 'Take Me Out to the Ball Game'. If a game goes into a fifth extra inning, a similar 'fourteenth-inning stretch' is celebrated. In softball games, amateur baseball games scheduled for only seven innings, or in minor-league doubleheaders, a 'fifth-inning stretch' may be substituted. In Japan, the seventh-inning stretch consists of two parts: one after the end of the 6th inning, where the away team's fight song is played, and the second after the top of the 7th inning, when the home team's fight song is played.

Many teams also play a local traditional song either before or after 'Take Me Out to the Ball Game'. The Toronto Blue Jays take the term literally, as Health Canada officials lead fans at Rogers Centre in stretching exercises while the club's song 'OK Blue Jays' plays before 'Take Me Out to the Ball Game'.

Did You Know?

The song 'Take Me Out to the Ball Game' was first played at a ballpark at a high school in Los Angeles, California in 1934.
The composers, Jack Norworth and Albert Von Tilzer, had both never attended an actual baseball game prior to writing the song.
Broadcaster Harry Caray popularized singing the song during the stretch, first with the Chicago White Sox and later with the Chicago Cubs.