<Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (September 2010) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (September 2010) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> <P> In baseball in the United States and Canada, the seventh - inning stretch is a tradition that takes place between the halves of the seventh inning of a game--in the middle of the seventh inning . Fans generally stand up and stretch out their arms and legs and sometimes walk around . It is a popular time to get a late - game snack or an alcoholic beverage as well, as vendors end alcohol sales after the last out of the seventh inning . The stretch also serves as a short break for the players . Most ballparks in professional baseball mark this point of the game by playing the crowd sing - along song "Take Me Out to the Ball Game". Since the September 11 attacks, many American ballparks complement or replace the song with the playing of "God Bless America ." If a game goes into a fifth extra inning, a similar "fourteenth - inning stretch" is celebrated (as well as a possible "twenty - first inning stretch" or "twenty - eighth inning stretch"). In softball games, amateur games scheduled for only seven innings, or in minor - league doubleheaders, a "fifth - inning stretch" may be substituted . </P> <P> The origin of the seventh - inning stretch is much disputed, and it is difficult to certify any definite history . </P>

When did they start singing god bless america at baseball games