Singing Senators and Ukulele Hitters

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The ʻukulele has been around for almost as long as Major League baseball, and the little instrument has been linked to "America's Pastime" on numerous occasions throughout their respective histories. In this article we'll take a look at a few of the cases where baseball and the ukulele shared the spotlight.

The 1920s were a very big decade for both the ʻukulele and for baseball. Each was entering an era of unprecedented popularity. Baseball's surge in the 1920s was largely due to the nation's fascination with Babe Ruth. Ruth himself played the ukulele, although by most accounts not very well. In a case of ʻUkulele Hall of Fame meets Baseball Hall of Fame, Ruth was a close personal friend of May Singhi Breen, the Ukulele Lady, and her husband, the composer Peter de Rose. Their friendship lasted from the 1920s right up until Ruth's death in 1948. When Ruth married his second wife, Claire Hodgson, in April of 1929, the Ruths held a reception in their apartment on Riverside Drive where, as baseball writer Red Smith put it, "the 18th amendment did not apply." Peter de Rose and May Singhi Breen provided the entertainment. Two months after Ruth died, a benefit for the Babe Ruth Foundation was held at the Cardinal restaurant in New York City, where Mrs. Babe Ruth presided at the unveiling of the "Babe Ruth Corner" and Peter de Rose and May Singhi Breen premiered the new song "Babe," written by Peter de Rose and Charles Tobias.

It was also during the 1920s when the baseball term "ukulele hitter" became popular. It isn't heard much these days, but was a common description in its day, used by players and newspaper reporters alike. It refers to a player who hits primarily singles — someone without a lot of home run power. Like people all over America, many baseball players took up ukulele playing in the 1920s. The long train rides from city to city must have provided plenty of time for playing and practice. Jack Bentley, a pitcher for the Giants, Senators, and Phillies during a nine-year career in the 1920s, was an accomplished ukulele player and singer, occasionally referred to as "Ukulele Jack Bentley." In 1927, Tiny Owens, a pitcher for the Detroit Tigers, quit during spring training, reportedly objecting to changes in the game such as "golf knickers, white flannels, tennis shoes and ukuleles around a baseball camp."

Other baseball players who also played ukulele include Cliff Heathcoat, who played ukulele in the clubhouse with the Chicago Cubs team band in the mid-1920s, and Lon Warneke, nicknamed the Arkansas Hummingbird, who played ukulele in a band formed by his St. Louis Cardinals teammate Pepper Martin. Hall of Fame catcher Mickey Cochrane could occasionally be found strumming his ukulele in the clubhouse.

In 1934 the Phillies introduced a Hawaiian-born player, Henry Kawaihoa Oana. He was just the third Hawaiian-born player to play in the majors. Referred to as "Prince" Oana, the Phillies claimed he was descended from royalty, although Oana himself made no such claim. Before his debut, Prince Oana did admit that "I can play the uke a bit." His debut prompted New York Times sportswriter John Kieran to write the following poem:

Let the umpires gayly
Beat the Bally Drum
On the ukulele
Let the coaches strum
For Henry from Hawaii in the moonlight far away
Is in a diamond setting here and ready for the fray
He may be a terror
To the pitching clan
But he's made an error
In his baseball plan
In any really regal guise he'd take the town by storm
But, shucks! His royal raiment is a Phillies uniform
Before the Phillies stumble
In the baseball fight,
Give the Prince a tumble
While he's still in sight.
Ere the Phillies strike their stride (which means a downward rush)
Cheer the Prince and let us see a truly royal flush!

Another prominent baseball connection occurred in the 1950s. The radio and television announcer for the Washington Senators baseball team, Bob Wolff, also liked to sing and play ukulele. He formed a barbershop quartet type group composed of players from the Senators who sang along as Wolff strummed his ukulele. The "Singing Senators" gained acclaim, and in 1958 they made their debut on NBC's Today Show and entertained for a full 45 minutes in front of the reflecting pool in Washington, DC. Wolff was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1995. He is surely the only Hall of Famer ever to play ukulele during his induction ceremony. What did he play? "Take Me Out to the Ball Game," naturally.

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