by John G. Johnson
Verlander
Twenty-seven
Dropped
Posted the day after Justin Verlander’s no-hitter against the Brewers, 6/13/07
Gary Sheffield: Free My Verse
by James Finn Garner
I called it years ago.
What I called is
that you’re going to see
more
black faces, but there ain’t no English
going to be
coming out. …
[It’s about]
being able to tell
[Latin players]
what to do —
being able to
control
them.
You might get a guy to do it that way
for a while
because he wants to benefit,
but in the end, he is going to go back
to being
who he is.
And that’s
a person that
you’re going to talk to
with respect,
you’re going to talk to
like a man.
These are the things my race demands.
So, if you’re equally good as this Latin player,
guess who’s going to get sent home?
I know a lot of players
that are home now
can outplay
a lot of these guys.
From an interview in GQ Magazine, June 2007
On Being A.J. Pierzynski
by James Finn Garner
Oh, it isn’t easy
Being A.J. Pierzynski.
Not one to appease, he
Is always called sleazy.
He’s never mistaken
For Francis Assisi.
He’d start a rhubarb
In a game of Parcheesi.
Ozzie will say that
He’ll see him in Hades–he
Then says they’re twins,
Near Siamese-y.
Other team’s say his
Play’s pretty cheesy.
If bad vibes were pollen,
The whole league would be sneezy.
But to find a smart catcher
Ain’t easy-peasy.
I’d rather hunt crocs on
The River
Like being the man
On the flying trapeze-y,
It ain’t never easy
Being A.J. Pierzynski.
Song for Detroit
by Stu Shea
I.
Is there anyone Tiger fans are fonder than
Than Jeremy Bonderman?
Can any Bengal take the ball to left field
Better than Sheffield?
And who’s their best hitter? Everyone says
It’s Mags Ordonez.
Is any pitcher more likely to zoom the ball by ya
Than Joel Zumaya?
II.
But can anyone’s batting average make fans cringe
More than Brandon Inge?
A Man Named “Pronk”
by Stu Shea
He hits like a God
And runs like a statue.
If you throw a fastball,
He’ll line it back at you.
Before the DH,
He might have been stuck
In minor-league ball
With a lot of bad luck.
Would his defense have been mocked like poor old Smead Jolley’s?
Booting balls like he’s starring in Flo Ziegfeld’s “Follies”?
Who knows? He’d still be a hero while swinging the wood.
If we “designate” Hafner, just designate him “good.”