Fifteen minutes.

That’s all it took vaudeville entertainer and songwriter, Jack Norworth, to write down his original lyrics of Take Me Out To The Ball Game on a scrap piece of paper while en route to Manhattan, New York by train in 1908, according to Baseball Almanac.

(By the way, take a quick listen to the different versions of Take Me Out To The Ball Game. My favorites from these are the traditional version, band version, mandolin version, and the orchestral version.)

Now, nearly 100 years later, it seems that those treasured words, scribbled on that fateful scrap piece of paper will itself need to be “scrapped” in order to squeeze in a touch of one of today’s technological advancements that could possibly find its way even into the grand game of baseball…genetically engineered peanuts.

Sure, Take Me Out To The Ball Game might not be the Gettysburg Address, also scribbled on a scrap piece of paper by Abraham Lincoln on a train ride to Gettysburg in November, 1863, 45 years earlier, but to millions of baseball fans, the song could give the speech a run for its money.

But for my money, I’d go with the real possibility that genetically engineered peanuts could show up at ballparks by the time today’s pre-teens are tomorrow’s first round draft picks.

According to an article by the Associated Press from Dec. 26, 2006, scientists have been given the go-ahead to create genetically engineered peanuts. They could be safer (for those who are allergic), easier to grow, and more nutritious.

So, if a re-write of the national past time’s signature song is in order, it’ll probably take more than 15 minutes.

And alot more than 15 minutes to catch on.

———-
Thanks to Roger’s friend Ernie Montano for sending along the article.