by Stephen Jones
I know, it’s early in the season
(Hell, it’s only just begun),
But if the new torpedo bat
Is the reason for this rout,
Then the long ball at Yankee Stadium
Is going to be the norm.
Goodbye, Cruel World, It’s Opening Day
by Hart Seely
The gods place bets with loaded dice,
And all our earthly dreams betray,
But listen to one clown’s advice,
Goodbye, cruel world; it’s opening day.
The politicians scrounge for power,
With consequences we shall pay.
But somewhere, it’s our finest hour,
Goodbye, cruel world; it’s opening day.
Our weary age is full of war,
The daily news brings dark dismay,
So surf the dreams worth living for,
Goodbye, cruel world; it’s opening day.
April 9, 1976: Rudy Schaffer, Paul Richards and Chisox owner Bill Veeck ring in Opening Day at Comiskey Park.
Spring Training
by Rickey Henderson
This shit don’t count.
This shit don’t go
on the bubble gum card.
H.O.F. Vote Headscratch
by Fred Lovato
Ichiro made Hall
unanimous but for one
there’s always THAT guy
A Baseball Game
By Richard Brautigan
Baudelaire went
to a baseball game
and bought a hot dog
and lit up a pipe
of opium.
The New York Yankees
were playing
the Detroit Tigers.
In the fourth inning
an angel committed
suicide by jumping
off a low cloud.
The angel landed
on second base,
causing the
whole infield
to crack like
a huge mirror.
The game was
called on
account of
fear.
From the book The Pill Versus the Springhill Mine Disaster. Copyright 1965 by Richard Brautigan. Photo by Chris Felver/Getty Images.