Take me out to the ball game,
Take me out with the crowd.
Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack,
I don't care if I never get back…
—Jack Norworth, 1908

One day in 1908 when Jack Norworth was riding the New York subway, he saw a sign—Ballgame Today at the Polo Grounds, and the words to the now well-known song, “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” began to form in his mind.
Sung less often are the opening lines to the song, altered here for reasons of literary license you will soon understand:

Stacey Pelle loved baseball games,
Knew the players, knew all their names,
You could see her there ev'ry day,
Shout "Hurray" when they'd play.
Her boy friend by the name of Tom
Said, "To Coney Isle, dear, let's go,"
Then Stacey started to fret and pout,
And to him I heard her shout:
Take me out to the ball game…

Although the woman’s name in the lyric originally was Nelly Kelly, and her boyfriend’s name in line five was Joe (Can you now see how that would rhyme with “let’s go” at the end of line six?), it’s Stacey and Tom we want to talk about now, some 100 years after Jack Norworth wrote about Nelly and Joe.

“My mom still lives at 13th and Bigler, just blocks from Citizens Bank Park,” said Stacey Pelle, who grew up in the South Philadelphia neighborhood, but is now a real estate broker and saleswoman for the Hoffman Agency North in Wildwood.
A life-long baseball fan, Stacey grew up watching Phillies’ games with her grandmother.

“My grandmother came here from Italy,” she said. “Although she lived in Brooklyn, she loved the Phillies. So I came by my love of the Phillies through her, not through my dad. Dad couldn’t care less about sports.”
Luckily, she got involved with a guy who also followed the Phillies, so when Stacey Loke and Tom Pelle got married last September, they did it major league style—at home plate in front of all their guests at Citizens Bank Park, where the Phillies play their home games (all guests had a “ticket” to the wedding that allowed admission at the gate).

The bridesmaids assembled in the Phillies dugout while the groomsmen occupied the visitors. There was a long, white plastic walkway made of “terraplast,” which made for easy access to home plate and prevented any high-heel stumbling over the turf, when the two “teams” entered the field from their respective dugouts.

And like all events at the ballpark, the National Anthem was sung first. This day it was performed by Wildwood’s own Joanna Martin, who also served as Maid of Honor.

“It was beautiful,” Stacey said, “with the field as a backdrop. The wedding was being played on Phanavision for the guests (who were assembled in the Diamond Club located on the concourse behind home plate). And they rang the homerun bell for us when we were married. Even if you’re not a sports fan, it’s great!”

The couple booked their wedding nine months in advance (215-218-5100). The date had to be during the baseball season while the Phillies were on the road. You must also hire the park’s ground crew.
“They treat that grass like it’s gold,” said Stacey.

You have your choice of either the Hall of Fame Club or Diamond Club. Stacey’s guests—220 of them—had plenty of room (the Diamond Club accommodates up to 500) and a great view of the field.
Stacey and Tom even got to run the bases after the ceremony.

“My mom said she’d have my gown cleaned and stored while we were on our honeymoon,” Stacey explained. “I told her, ‘You can store it, but don’t you dare clean it!’ I’m proud of that infield clay I got all over the bottom.”

Ed. note: Stacey considered sliding into home plate, but thought it best to cross the plate standing, hence there is infield clay on the bottom of her gown only.

The Phillies and Citizens Bank Park are very accommodating. You can engage your own priest or minister to perform the marriage, and park officials supplied Stacey with two coordinators—one from the park and one from Aramark, the hospitality company that services all events at Citizens Bank Park (you must use Aramark as your caterer if your reception is held at Citizens Bank Park).

At the Diamond Club reception, guests had their choice from the three stations set up by Aramark: filet mignon, crabcake, pasta.
“Some took their plates out onto the patio, where Aramark had set up tables,” Stacey explained. “From there they could see the field as they ate. It may have had a ballpark feel, but it was elegant!”

Tom, who owns Tamarin Entertainment in Haddonfield, created a video slide show of old family photos and ran a loop that showed continuously on the many flat screens and on Phanavision.

But the highlight of the reception came right after the couple’s first dance in public as husband and wife.
“The (band) leader announced that there was a slight problem with the next song,” Stacey said. “He said that an ex-boyfriend of mine was quite agitated about the wedding and demanded one last dance with me.

“I kept thinking, who in the world could this be? Well, they started to play “Soul Man,” and who should come dancing in wearing a tux, but the Philly Phanatic. The kids went crazy! It was great.
“My husband, Tom, set the whole thing up as a surprise; he knew I loved the Phanatic.”

Stacey and Tom share a love that goes deeper than many married couples—they are both baseball fans, and Phillies fans. And like Nelly Kelly, Stacey would rather have her beau take her out to a ballgame any old day; whether she’s wearing a gown or jeans.

The wedding was an unqualified success on all levels, but Stacey’s not so sure about the Phillies deals this off-season.
“I’m not happy about losing (centerfielder) Rowand,” she said, “but I wouldn’t be unhappy if they would have at least got a quality pitcher for him. If they knew they were going to lose him, why didn’t they try to get something for him?”

Ed. note: Phillies all-star Aaron Rowand will be patrolling centerfield for the San Francisco Giants in 2008.

Ahh…the vagaries of baseball; a bride and groom can love forever, but a free agent—he’ll break your heart every time.
Now, let’s hear it… c’mon, everybody:

"Take me out to the ball game,
Take me out with the crowd.
Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack,
I don't care if I never get back,
Let me root, root, root for the home team,
If they don't win it's a shame.
For it's one, two, three strikes, you're out,
At the old ball game."