Novelist Archibald Clavering Gunter had read and clipped "Casey" from the newspaper. When he heard that the New York Giants and the Chicago White Stockings (later Cubs) were to attend a performance of vaudevillian DeWolf Hopper, Gunter asked Hopper to incorporate the poem into his act. It was a huge sucess, making the poem famous. Hopper claimed to have performed the work another ten thousand times, releasing a recorded version in 1906 that hit No. 3 on the Billboard chart. Gunter asked Hopper to incorporate the poem into his act. It was a huge sucess, making the poem famous. Hopper claimed to have performed the work another ten thousand times, releasing a recorded version in 1906 that hit No. 3 on the Billboard chart.