In most Major League Baseball games, a rousing rendition of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” during the seventh-inning stretch represents the game’s musical pinnacle. Attend a Boston Red Sox home game at Fenway Park, however, and you’ll discover something else: a boisterous sing-along to Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” in the middle of the eighth-inning.
How did the "Sweet Caroline" ballgame tradition begin?
The tradition dates to 1997, when team employee Amy Tobey played "Sweet Caroline" in Fenway Park, since she knew someone who had recently given birth to a baby named Caroline. In subsequent years, the Red Sox saved the song for special occasions, like when the team was winning or the crowd was in good spirits. But in 2002, the team’s then-executive vice president, Charles Steinberg, decided “Sweet Caroline” should go into regular rotation at every home game.
"I think the song may have transformative powers and it may be able to lift the melancholy crowd and lift the spirits to being positive,” he told MLB.com, adding that the timing was also crucial. "I wanted it to be [played in] the middle of the eighth, because you want your more festive songs to occur when the home team is coming up to bat.”
When was 'Sweet Caroline' first released?
Originally released in 1969 as "Sweet Caroline (Good Times Never Seemed So Good),” Neil Diamond's pop hit quickly became one of the musician's signature tunes, reaching number four on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Its catchy chorus and soaring melody have made it a beloved anthem at gatherings and events worldwide.
How else has 'Sweet Caroline' become an anthem for audiences?
The Red Sox aren’t the only team to use “Sweet Caroline” to pump up crowds. The NFL’s Carolina Panthers have played the song after home wins since the late 1990s. Globally, “Sweet Caroline” has been embraced at select Australian rugby matches; at UK football matches for clubs like Oxford United, Arsenal and Aston Villa; and at some football games in Northern Ireland.
And you’ll also hear the song during appearances by English boxer Josh Warrington, who praises the cross-generational appeal of the tune. “There’ll be a lad my age singing it, plus a teenager, a dad in his late forties or early fifties, and then a grandad in his seventies saying, ‘I remember when this came out,’” he told The Athletic.
"[T]he Diamond appeal is that he doesn’t overcomplicate anything," said Steve Furst, who also performs a Neil Diamond tribute show. "That very simple, sing-along chorus makes it perfect, and everyone knows it," he told the BBC.
That combination of shared nostalgia, easy-to-sing music and an uplifting arrangement goes a long way to explain the “Sweet Caroline” phenomenon in England, where it’s become a massive soccer anthem in recent years. That’s due to a legendary Euro 2020 match where England beat Germany 2-0 at home—spurring Wembley Stadium’s resident DJ, Tony Perry, to spin “Sweet Caroline.”
In other words, just as the song bonds families together—it also provides a communal moment for fans. “We all want to see the ‘good times’ come round for England,” fan Steve Riding told The Athletic, “and this happy song fits that mood.”
