by Michael X. Ferraro
Are you sinking in the quickstandings?
Does your bullpen perform crash-landings?
Were you chattering all through the summer,
yet now only muttering “bummer”?
Have bad hops invaded your dreams
As you wilt against much lesser teams?
Do your screamers hook foul or find leather?
Is your clean-up man under the weather?
Did you run yourself out of an inning?
Is your manager’s hairline thinning?
Does that magic number refuse to dwindle?
Can your champagne dreams even fill a thimble?
It seemed like a season you’d remember—
But then came the chill winds of September.
Yes!
The screamed hooked foul or found leather.