by Celeste Johnston
In the Ultimate game the Young Titan once again
Sent a ball into the cold Midwestern night
With a swing so beautiful as to seem unreal.
And That joy once so elusive for the Orange and Black
Was once again within their grasp.
Time-Saving Seventh-Inning Anthem
by Ron Kaplan
Buy me some peanuts.
I don’t care.
Let us root root for the laundry;
If they don’t win, meh.
For it’s two strikes, you’re out.
The end.
(Time of game: 2:10)
Ron Kaplan operates the very literate website Ron Kaplan’s Baseball Bookshelf and is the author of 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read Before They Die.
Well, Shucks
by R.J. Lesch
Here’s Bryan Price, his Reds down on their luck.
With injuries his players have been hit.
As manager, he sure would like to duck
His duties as a spokesman, and to sit
upon the news of who could play, and tuck
away the players who could not. But it
is not an option nowadays. No truck
is had with silence on such things. To wit,
reporters and their readers want to pluck
from every minute’s stream the latest bit
of news. And if it hurts the team? Tough. Suck
it up. And Reds’ opponents benefit.
I guess he thinks he’d had enough with schmucks.
And so Price vents, and Rosecrans “tsks” and clucks.
Utley’s Coroner
by Michael X. Ferraro
Chase Utley gets plunked all the time.
Sometimes he leans in, like a mime.
But Matt Harvey drilled hard,
Because Chase took him yard.
Does Baseball not think this a crime?
Chase Utley led the league in HBP three years running, from 2007-9. He has also homered so often to the right field porch at Citi Field, the Mets announcers have christened it “Utley’s Corner.”
Michael X. Ferraro is a writer and Phillies fan trapped in Los Angeles. His latest book is the satirical sports novel, Circus Catch.
Alex Rios’ April
By Stuart Shea
Signed to a deal by the Royals–
A chance to retighten my coils.
Given an everyday job,
Replacing that Aoki slob.
Drilled by a rookie in April–
Knocked me on my ass like a vape will.
Out for six to eight weeks,
A delight to those analyst geeks.