by Hilary Barta
For Cleveland, the strike zone expanded
For Cubbies, all runners left stranded
It’s not luck, we’re not cursed
But we sucked in the first
And head to Game Two empty-handed.
The NLCS, and Beyond
by Ember Nickel
The lead off third–most of the way around
The basepaths, yet the distance still to go
Looms large. The runner checks himself, has found
He can’t turn back; and he is left with no
Choice but to run, break forward, and defy
The pitch itself. Time slows, a run appears
From desperation, being forced to try,
And jaws that dropped pick themselves up for cheers.
What remains now, when superstition’s gone?
After imposed fake narrative, what’s left?
The game itself finds more plays to spin on;
Out of the blue, a miraculous theft.
One needn’t be a loser to love story;
There will be space for small moments of glory.
Because Nothing Rhymes with Schwarber
by James Finn Garner
Sluggo! Sluggo!
My eyes went all bug-o
And I gave myself a hug-o
When into the lineup you were plug-oed!
Ya big bald lug-o
You give our heartstrings a tug-o
Don’t pull out the rug-o
Or let us get smug-o
Now let’s toss the Tribe in the jug-o
Welcome back, Sluggo!
The Baseball Gods Have Decreed
by Stephen Jones
The gods of summer are blowing
Great white baseballs in the air,
And they are shaking thunder
Like the roar of a stadium crowd.
They have selected the best:
They have chosen Cleveland and Chicago,
Two saga-like teams — and each with
A history they’d like to rewrite
(As well as with a lakefront view).
Soon enough, they’ll wrestle and grapple
For baseball’s ultimate crown.
Which will it be —
Win-dy Chicago or Cleveland-I-am?
Kluber’s Clan
By James Finn Garner
With apologies to Samuel Taylor Coleridge
In Canada did Kluber’s clan
A stately baseball dome lay waste
Where Molson’s had in rivers ran
Through taverns ‘cross the frozen land
. Â Â Now left a sour taste
But once before had Cleveland’s Merritt
Begun a game, yet they could bear it
With Miller near to pull his load
The ball did Crisp and Carlos paste
A gonfalon triumph on the road
And two decades of grief erased.