Casey at the Bat -- Vance Holmes

A Musical Celebration of Baseball
Book, Music & Lyrics by VANCE HOLMES Based on Ernest Lawrence Thayer's famous poem
The day of the big baseball game finds Centerville playing Mudville for the State championship. The great player Kelly Casey comes to bat for Mudville, which is behind in the bottom of the ninth. Casey swings mightily, but in the end, to his fans' dismay, he strikes out.
CASEY AT THE BAT is not a traditional book musical with a plot that moves the action forward. The material has been arranged to move chronologically through the history of baseball, and the saga of the Casey family, from 1888 to the present. The overall structure is dictated by the development of its main theme: the proud and courageous audacity that has been called "the American Spirit". This eternally optimistic, indomitable spirit is what drives the action, and is really the main character of the play. CASEY AT THE BAT then, is a "revusical" - a musical celebration of baseball as seen through the eyes of one American family.
"There was ease in Casey's manner as he stepped into his place, There was pride in Casey's bearing and a smile on Casey's face. And when, responding to the cheers, he lightly doffed his hat, No stranger in the crowd could doubt 'twas CASEY AT THE BAT." -- Ernest Lawrence Thayer