Of the two well-known baseball musicals (1958’s Damn Yankees is the other), I prefer this frothy MGM vehicle.  To me, Take Me Out to the Ball Game (1949) has better songs, livelier humor, a better feel for the national pastime and, most importantly, is just plain more fun.

Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra and Jules Munshin take the field as the shortstop, second baseman and first baseman, respectively, of a baseball team called the Wolves. Kelly and Sinatra moonlight as vaudevillians in the off-season, and they arrive at spring training to find that the Wolves have a new owner: Esther Williams.  Both men chafe under the perceived disadvantage of a female owner, enduring endless taunts from other teams, but both men grow to love her.  Eventually the Wolves start winning and this draws the attention of a gambler (Edward Arnold) who attempts to sabotage the Wolves’ pennant hopes.

The baseball scenes in the film are only fair; this was first and foremost a musical. In fact, the film’s early baseball scenes are played for comedy, as Kelly, Sinatra and Munshin entertain the crowd with comic scenes on the field involving a giant bat.  But the musical numbers are all business, staged and directed by Kelly and Stanley Donen (even though the film’s director, Busby Berkeley, was a genius at the same task).  The tunes include two versions of the title song, “It’s Fate, Baby, It’s Fate,” “O’Brien to Ryan to Goldberg,” “The Right Girl for Me,” “Yes, Indeedy,” “The Hat My Father Wore Upon Saint Patrick’s Day” and “Strictly U.S.A.”

While this is certainly a minor musical when compared to other MGM products of the era, it remains a snappy, colorful paean to old-style baseball and old-style vaudeville.  Kelly and Sinatra make a happy team, and the addition of Munshin adds a comic touch.  Esther Williams dives into a pool for one rendition of the title song and has fun arguing with an umpire in one scene and Kelly for most of the movie.  In fact, Kelly had not wanted Williams in the film and tormented her behind the scenes for her lack of dancing ability and height (she towers over him).

Betty Garrett is a nice match for Sinatra and helps keep the relationships symmetrical, the bright musical numbers keep viewers humming and the baseball action is fun.  It’s not a home run, but it’s a solid double.  My rating:  ✰ ✰ ✰.  (7:2).