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A New Legacy I Could Believe In

by Sid Yiddish

Legend has it, that in Chicago there are two winning baseball teams.

Ha!

I’d like to believe that one, although the die-hard fans would argue this point for days, weeks, months and years, but I just don’t have time to listen to all the ups & downs, the theories, the conspiracies and all those “what ifs.”

What if the Cubs won the World Series?
What if the White Sox won another World Series within three years?
What if baseball fans in this town rooted for another team altogether and just gave up on the Cubs and White Sox?

What if by some miraculous circumstance, the Cubs and White Sox found some leadership, corralled all of their players together, organized a mentoring program for those of them, not in-the-know and brought them into the fold of knowing and understanding what the game of baseball in Chicago means to fans like me?

Now, that’s a new legacy I could believe in.

Published 7/15/09

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Brewer Haiku

by Doug Fahrendorff

The Brewer bullpen
Silencing opponents’ bats
A pleasant surprise

Expectations high
Wildcard will not satisfy
Rabid Brewer fans

Listening to Uek
“Get up, get outta here, gone!”
Summer and baseball

Published 7/14/09

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Yankees: Minnesota, May You Always Play Against Us

by Hart Seely

Justin Morneau, Denard Span,
Each of them, a special man.
Jason Kubel, Jason Pride,
Promising a pleasant ride.

Michael Cuddyer, Joe Mauer,
Every game, a happy hour.
Carlos Gomez, Jesse Crain,
I would play them all again!

R.A. Dickey, old Joe Crede,
Yielding to us, if we’re needy.
Minnesota! Humphrey Dome!
‘Neath thy roof, we feel at home.

Published 7/10/09

Hart Seely is the author of  Mother Goose Goes to Washington, as well as Oh Holy Cow: The Selected Verse of Phil Rizzuto, newly released in a 15th-anniversary edition. He often hangs around the Yankee website, It is High, It is Far, It is….caught, offering tasteful and constructive comments to management and players alike.

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YER OUT!

by Charles Ghigna

“Strike Three!” and I jump.
I’m in a big slump.
I’m down in the dump,
Can’t get over this hump.

You cross-eyed old ump,
You’re as blind as a stump.
Made me look like a chump,
You horse’s rump!

Published 7/7/09

Charles Ghigna is the award-winning author of more than 40 volumes of poetry for children and adults, including Score: 50 Poems to Motivate and Inspire.  Find out more at his website, Father Goose.

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The Sidearm Sinker

by Jonathan Eig

My daughter grabs the pink plastic bat
And steps up to the chalk-drawn plate.
Who am I to stop her if she wants to hit lefty?
Let’s see what you’ve got, I say to myself.
The kid’s maybe three or four and
I’m maybe forty-three.
I lean in and pretend to look for the signs.
She squeezes the bat and grimaces
Like Annie in the scene where she rescues Sandy from bullies.
Then she takes a couple of practice swings.
I take my time.
“Come on, Meat!” she yells.
So I stick my fingertips in two of the holes in the ball
And go with the sidearm sinker
That used to get my brother every time.
Filthy stuff, absolutely filthy.
She misses so badly that
I think she’s going to cry,
But she doesn’t.
She just cocks her head, looks up at me,
And says, ““That’s one, old-timer.”

Published 7/5/09

Jonathan Eig is the author of Opening Day: The story of Jackie Robinson’s First Season and Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig. You can read more about him, and his upcoming book, Get Capone!, here.