Since 1858 when the first piece of baseball music was published and performed, music has been a constant companion to all aspects of the game, amplifying and enlivening the stories and experiences of the fans, players, performers, composers, lyricists and music publishers who documented and celebrated the game with music. As America was searching for its own musical identity separate from European influences, baseball would be riding that same crest into the twentieth century, with the song "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" branding baseball and its music as a popular and cherished American enterprise. The partnership of baseball and music would grow stronger through two world wars, suffrage, women's professional ball, racial integration and expansion of the game to the West Coast.