Reviving the Art of Baseball Doggerel
Does a Baby Bull have Buddha nature?
Not even the wind,
fluttering prayer flags
in the abandoned grandstand,
can say.
Peanuts and popcorn
in your begging bowl,
a pinecone nestled snugly
in your glove.
How many times being hit by a pitch
until you gained enlightenment?
379 homers? Or
379 drops of rain
pelting a temple bell?
Photo by the author’s sister.
This shit don’t count.
This shit don’t go
on the bubble gum card.
RIP to the greatest lead-off hitter of all time. (12/25/58-12/20/24)
Rickey came on Christmas Day
Rickey born in a cab that day
Rickey lightning on the field
Rickey is the Man of Steal
Rickey wins with all his teams
Rickey says what Rickey means
Rickey never gonna quit
Rickey too legit to quit
Rickey slowing down? Never!
Rickey gonna run forever.
You lose a game,
And it hurts
Like a paper cut.
You don’t make the playoffs,
And it hurts
Like a broken nose.
You lose the last game of the World Series,
And it hurts
Like a Type III fracture.
You lose one hundred and twenty games,
And it still don’t hurt
Like having your heart ripped out.
Becuz’ in your world,
The hurt will heal
As you wait until next year.
Like a rainbow thief, the A’s owner
Has forever stolen the Green & Gold
And left only the Blues.
He’s stealing away,
Up Highway 80 to sAcrAmento,
Chasing a pot o’ gold to lAs vegAs.
The letter “A” has been ripped out of
The O*kl*nd *lph*bet.
And now he*rt sounds like hurt.
A broken old man sits crying
In the desolate Coliseum
With a cancer of the heart.
Becuz’ in his world,
The hurt will metastasize
On every Opening Day.
Dr. Oza’s novel Double Play on the Red Line sits at the intersection of Ernie Banks’ Cubs, the Negro Leagues, riding the El, wrongful convictions, immigration and friendship. It will be published in October 2024 by Chicago’s Third World Press.
As the sun sinks low over East Bay,
We savor the memories of when they’d play,
That team from Oakland in yellow and green
And some of the greatest we’ve ever seen.
Leading off, of course, the immortal Rickey,
Powerful, swift, determined, tricky,
Then lanky, mustachioed Rollie, and who
Can forget Catfish and Vida Blue?
Campy Campaneris and Sal Bando
Thrilled the nascent East Bay fandom
The Swingin’ A’s and Charley O
Kept things jumping, three rings in a row.
Dave Stewart, imposing on the mound,
And Reggie Jackson! Too big for this town
Dennis Eckersley, Jason Giambi,
Dwayne Murphy, Joe Rudi, Rick Monday
A franchise always hurting for cash
Still grew Bob Welch and the Brothers of Bash
And a World Series paused by an earthquake?
These are the things that diehards make.
Rowdy! Joyous! Full-bore! . . . Buzzed?
They didn’t always win, but then who does?
For a snapshot of what it means to be an Oakland A’s fan, check out this article from the SF Chronicle, which is also posting an oral history with players from different eras of the team.