by Stephen Jones
Alexander Joy Cartwright, club member
Of the old New York Knickerbocker,
Declared 9 innings in 1845 –
Something we still keep alive.
Modern baseball’s inventor –
Tired of game disorder –
Called a dream field to order
When he gaveled “9” the number.
Now stirs a business suggestion:
Make baseball’s 9 a 7.
Why? Because the game’s too slow,
Because younger fans are “no-show.”
Mr. Cartwright worked with geometry,
Not with something fiduciary.
Since when, he might opine,
Is baseball governed by bottom line?