by Anonymous (1910)
We baseball bards can write a screed,
Without half trying.
It is an easy field, indeed,
For versifying.
Some bards are stuck from time to time,
And half demented,
But as for us, a word to rhyme,
May be invented.
Andy Coakley: Born Too Soon
by R.J. Lesch
When Andy Coakley, traded to the Cubs
in time for ’08’s crazy pennant race,
received one of the pettiest of snubs
and didn’t get World Series dough, the case
of Coakley v. the Cubs went to the courts.
He knew he didn’t rate a full share, but
he thought he should get something. But all sorts
of calumnies got thrown into his gut.
“He’s so ungrateful,” said the press. “He should
be booted out.” And so he spent his prime
in outlaw leagues. His arm was just no good
by when he made it back to the big time.
When Coakley got the shafting from his team,
free agency was still a distant dream.