by FLYTE
http://youtu.be/9h3DAjhNNQg
A Double Limerick of Cubbie Grief
by Cary Donham
Doug Davis throws nothing but junk,
Zambrano acts like a punk,
.   And Quade the boss
.   Looks like he’s lost–
Another Cubs’ season is sunk.
Are Ricketts and Hendry still believing
While fans in the bleachers are grieving?
.   ‘Cause the team on the field
.   Is again getting killed.
Who can blame Ron Santo for leaving????
Baseball Cards #1
by Jim Daniels
One
of the 10,342 baseball cards in my parents’ attic
sneezes in the dampness, remembers
sweaty hands.
He calls to me across hundreds of miles:
Remember me, Jake Wood, 1964, 2nd base, Detroit Tigers,
Series 2, No. 272?
He wants to stretch his legs, climb out
from between Wilbur Wood and the 4th Series Checklist
wants to outsail all the other cards
in a game of farthies, float down
on Jose Tartabull in a game of tops.
He wants to smell like fresh from the pack
wants to be perfumed again
with the pink smell of bubble gum.
.
Jim Daniels is the Thomas Stockham Baker Professor of English at Carnegie Mellon University, where he has taught creative writing for 30 years.
Fanfare
by Edmund Conti
Fans in New England (the Red Sox Nation)
Are masochists in anticipation.
Yankee fans are clever guys
Two strikes on batter, they all rise
Sophisticated crowd. Who knew
All of them could count to two?
The Cubby fans are loud and jivey,
Or are they rooting for the ivy?
It’s Baseball Night in Canada, eh?
Do the Blue Jays fight or do they play?
Texas loves the Texas Rangers
To the rest of us they’re total strangers.
Mets fans shout it:
Fuhgeddaboudit!
Good players are what their diamond lacks
But their fans still cheer the Diamondbacks.
The team is shaky in Seattle
The players may but the fans don’t rattle.
Florida fans all like to laze
Watch the game, take in the Rays.
Some fans will cheer and that’s
All we have for the Washington Nats.
Philadelphia’s fandom
Cheers or boos—it’s random.
Traditions
by Doug Fahrendorff
Dad’s stories of baseball
In the 60’s
Catch in the backyard
Cheering for the same team
Pickup games at the school field
Your own Louisville slugger
Breaking in a new glove
Collecting baseball cards
A visit to the Hall of Fame
Watching “Field of Dreams”
Expectations on opening day
Your team
Winning the pennant
And World Series