"Casey at the Bat," the legendary poem detailing the abysmal failure of a small-town baseball hero, has become as much a part of American culture as baseball itself. But until now, little has been written about the circumstances surrounding its creation and its first performance in New York's Wallack's Theater in 1888. In this incredible new slice of Americana, John Evangelist Walsh gives the story behind the poem, shaping vivid pictures of the poet, the poem's original and favorite performer, New York in the 1880s, and America in the earliest years of its love affair with baseball. Surveying the day's great comic performers to its most legendary baseballers, from the streets of Manhattan to the zeitgeist of a young America, the story of "Casey" is as dramatic as the poem itself. With an amazing wealth of detail, Walsh explores the road leading to the poem’s first performance and its immediate popularity. Baseball fans, theater lovers, and American history buffs alike will enjoy this dramatic tale of a culturally definitive moment--The Night Casey Was Born.