by Hilary Barta
Into fall to the very last minute,
Players all say they play it to win it
Then one troop gets the boot
So for whom does one root
Watching ballgames when home teams ain’t in it?
Getting His Licks In
by James Finn Garner
Does it matter that
Yasiel Puig licks his bat?
Something, I mean,
Apart from hygiene?
Is it nerves? Is it taste?
An act done in haste?
When speculation’s void,
Ask Sigmund Freud.
Oh Doctor! Yanks in Six
by the Village Elliott
Since “Dem Bums Clubbed Bear Babies,” who knows:
If Bronx Baby Bombers bash ‘Stros,
Are Dodgers Yanks’ “cousin”
Ninth time out of dozen?
Jah must know ‘cuz he asked Billy Loes.*
__________________
* Before dem Bums met the Bronx Bombers in the 1952 World Series, Brooklyn’s resident northpaw wit Billy Loes, when asked his prediction for the series, was quoted, “Yanks in Six.” Headlined the next day, Loes claimed he was misquoted. “I said, ‘Yanks in seven.'”
The Yankees and Dodgers have met in 11 previous times, the most any two teams have met in the Fall Classic (Second, Yanks-Giants (5-2); third, Yanks-Cards (2-3). The Yankees have won eight (1941, ’47, ’49, ’52, ’53, ’56, ’77, ’78). The Dodgers won in 1955 (Brooklyn’s only crown), ’63 and ’81.
When Starters Depart, the Heartbreak Doth Start
by Hilary Barta
A grating, familiar motif,
The state of which fills one with grief:
Cubs go to the pen
And lo, once again
In late innings, still no relief.
Nat’s All, Folks
by James Finn Garner
Must we
Fire Dusty
‘Cuz Scherzer
Got worser
And Harper
Will scarper
And Wieters
Missed a beat, sir?
The manager who
Delivered the Nats
To the brink
Shouldn’t shoo
When pitchers and bats
Made the stink.