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LaRoche Family Values

by the Village Elliott

White Sox Adam LaRoche walked away
From big contract and team. “I won’t play
If I can’t bring my kid,
All the time; always did.”
Sad “Good Fam’ly Man” used son that way.

While “good father’s” sound bite sounds pleasin’,
I’m cynical of noble reason.
Think “Mendoza Line” Dad,
Once set precedent bad,
While his teammates’ rights he’s been squeezin’.

Think unfair to think offspring should be
Work space feature set permanently.
What if some other dad
Does same, brings kid that’s bad,
Disrupting work place family?

 

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Oh Noes! It’s the Pale Hose!

By James Finn Garner

Should one think it gauche
That DH Adam LaRoche
Waits til now to announce he’s retiring?

This lox last hit .207
So, save a bolt from heaven,
This year would be no more inspiring.

The cellar? Owned by the Sox.
They bobbled even their jocks.
Any ball hit was cause for alarm.

Now there’s five guys in right,
Plus Rollins, Avila — good night!
How many weeks til they wear out Sale’s arm?

 

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Hot Stove Recruits (Spring Training)

by the Village Elliott

In Spring Leagues named for cactus, grapefruits,
Fans first see team’s new Hot Stove recruits.
Each signing new reason
To cheer team’s off-season,
‘Til see new team die with same old boots.

 

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The Big Piece

By C.S. Carr

Infielders play pepper sharpening reflexes.
Chooch works with the kid from Panama with a rocket for an arm.
Coach leans against the backstop staring into the gage,
shouts,
shorten the stance
lower the hands
move closer to the plate.
Waits for that thwack from his bat
Like the crack of a pick striking a vein of coal.
The Big Piece lines
balls fired from the wheels of the batting machine
puncture the netting.

Gone are J-Roll, Chase,
the Flying Hawaiian, Cliff,
Cole, Doc, and Pat the Bat–
World Champions.

Phils perennial migration to Clearwater,
.               it’s Spring Training.
The chatter in camp is about manufacturing runs:
bases hits; moving runners; bringing guys home
using an assortment of prospects–
Rule 5’s, free agents, draft picks,
couple of no-hit speed merchants
and a bunch of Punch-and-Judy hitters.

The calendar flips to the dog days of June, it gets hotter and the road trips get longer,
can the young arms hold up?
Lots of unknowns before they head north.
It looks like the Big Piece can’t hit
for power anymore.