Take me out to the "song" park: the exhibition "Baseball's Greatest Hits: The Music of Our National Game" serves as a perfect companion to the start of spring training.

PositionAthletic Arena

LONG BEFORE the speakers at Wrigley Field blasted Steve Goodman's "Go, Cubs, Go" after each triumphant Cubs game, and long before players approached the batter's box with their signature walk-up songs, music and baseball indelibly have been intertwined. "Baseball's Greatest Hits: The Music of Our Nation al Game" looks at this winning combination, from before the Civil War to the present day.

It is on view through July 22 in the Library of Congress' James Madison Building. The 45item exhibition features baseball sheet music, drawn from the Music Division of the Library, which holds one of the largest such collections in the nation. Most of the works are original copyright deposits that came to the Library through its copyright registration program. The songs chronicle baseball's greatest moments and celebrate the pleasures of a day at the park, superior players, and hometown teams.

A video station highlights the performances of many catchy baseball songs, including "Did You See Jackie Robinson Hit that Ball" by Count Basie; "Baseball Blues" by Claire Hammill; "Right Field" by Peter, Paul, and Mary; "There Used to Be a Ballpark" by Frank Sinatra; "All the Way" by Eddie Vedder; "You Gotta Have Heart" by the 1969 World Series champion New York (Amazin') Mets; "Life is a Ballgame" by Sister Wynona Carr; and "Talkin' Baseball" by Terry Cashman.

A special segment is devoted to the most popular baseball song of all, 'Take Me Out to the Ball Game." Visitors can hear a mashup of about 20 different covers of the tune. On display will be the original copyright deposit for the 1908 sheet music, submitted by Tin Pan Alley's legendary composer Albert von Tilzer and lyricist Jack Norworth. (That year also was made memorable by the Chicago Cubs, as the Windy City boys won their third straight National League pennant and second consecutive Fall Classic, the latter title their last championship until the autumn of 2016.)

The Library's exhibit curators, Robin...

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