by the Village Elliott
How ironic first Series replay
Reversed turns game with double play,
. For three decades ago,
. Royals won when it ain’t so,
Now Don Denkinger’s gift they repay.
Free Verse (After the Party)
by Stephen Jones
I’m not one for museum pieces,
For immediate elevation
To baseball’s Mt. Olympus,
But the way Mr. Bumgarner
Delivered the goods
On short rest, without a thought —
That does make me stop.
I applaud
Sheer will, tenacity and skill —
And maybe a performance
Tour d’force.
Instant Replay
by James Finn Garner
Eric Hosmer’s modified mullet
MadBum casually firing bullets
Superfans from South Korea
The panicked look on Kelvin Herrera
Phantom sighting of the Freak
Plugging Aoki’s defensive leak
Peavy shelled like the Hellespont
Escobar laying down a bunt???
Joe Buck opining from his tuchus
Of redoubtable Mike Moustakas
Gordon’s single to the wall
Cool-as-horchata Sandoval
What the hell is Ned Yost thinking?
I’ll have whatever Pence is drinking
Crawford gobbles up ground balls
Bochy weeps, and Affeldt bawls
Young Joe Panik, Dyson, Cain…
Can we please do it all again?
Requiem for a Bat
By Stuart Shea
The series is over,
And I can’t stand the stench.
The Royals’ best option
Was nailed to the bench.
Sure, MadBum was great,
The best in a clench–
But Yost left his best pinch-hitter
Sitting on the bench.
Salvador Perez broke his knee,
Or at least gave it a wrench,
But Yost wouldn’t replace him
With someone from his bench.
Now Josh Willingham’s retiring,
Unlike Dame Judy Dench.
He ended his career
With his ass on the bench.
Super Non-Collider
by Jim Siergey
A hit off of Bum that was erred
but Gordon was stopped there at third.
.  To home was not steered
.  Was “Posey Rule” feared?
A Shot ‘Round the World now unheard.