By Stuart Shea
Houston drafted a pitcher named Aiken
Then said he was damaged, though his elbow ain’t achin’.
No one agreed on appropriate bacon,
Makin’ non-achin’ Aiken’s a special deal-breakin’.
Natural Selection for Darwin
by James Finn Garner
Darwin Barney is out of a job
One more part of the unemployed mob
.   To see his kid’s birth
.   He ceded his berth
Now at the playground will hobnob.
A Long Season
by Doug Fahrendorff
In first place
Since April 9th
Can Milwaukee continue
To stun the skeptics
Or will the Brewers
And their fans
Find the season lasts
Two months
Too long
Springertime in Houston
By Stuart Shea
This George Springer–
A real humdinger,
From-the-heels swinger,
Highlight bringer,
Bad-pitch stinger,
But for all we know
He’s not much of a singer.
Dream Come True
By R.J. Lesch
With two men out, Glen Perkins turned to look
toward the third base stands, and then he smiled.
The local boy, as in a storybook,
or sandlot fantasies of any child,
could hear the Minnesota crowd. And they
were chanting out his name, their joy undamped
as he closed out the All Star Game. They say
the Nordic folk don’t often get so amped.
And closers should be ice and stone, you see.
But out there on the diamond, who could blame
A boy who once hit baseballs off a tee
For grinning big and wide? But all the same,
the closer and the catcher, not done yet,
went back to work, with one more out to get.