At Long Last, Hu
by Jim Siergey
Bud Abbott befuddled poor Lou
With bit about first baseman Who.
. What once was absurd
. Today has occurred
“Hey, Abbott! On first base is Hu!”
For the picture that Abbott & Costello never lived to see, as well as a great modern retelling of their classic routine, check out this post by PeteyHendrix at Red Reporter.
A Ballad of Baseball Burdens
by Franklin Pierce Adams
The burden of hard hitting. Slug away
. Like Honus Wagner or like Tyrus Cobb.
Else fandom shouteth: “Who said you could play?
. Back to the jasper league, you minor slob!”
. Swat, hit, connect, line out, get on the job.
Else you shall feel the brunt of fandom’s ire
. Biff, bang it, clout it, hit it on the knob—
This is the end of every fan’s desire.
The burden of good pitching. Curved or straight.
. Or in or out, or haply up or down,
To puzzle him that standeth by the plate,
. To lessen, so to speak, his bat-renoun:
. Like Christy Mathewson or Miner Brown,
So pitch that every man can but admire
. And offer you the freedom of the town—
This is the end of every fan’s desire.
The burden of loud cheering. O the sounds!
. The tumult and the shouting from the throats
Of forty thousand at the Polo Grounds
. Sitting, ay, standing sans their hats and coats.
. A mighty cheer that possibly denotes
That Cub or Pirate fat is in the fire;
. Or, as H. James would say, We’ve got their goats—
This is the end of every fan’s desire.
The burden of a pennant. O the hope,
. The tenuous hope, the hope that’s half a fear,
The lengthy season and the boundless dope,
. And the bromidic; “Wait until next year.”
. O dread disgrace of trailing in the rear,
O Piece of Bunting, flying high and higher
. That next October it shall flutter here:
This is the end of every fan’s desire.
ENVOY
Ah, Fans, let not the Quarry but the Chase
. Be that to which most fondly we aspire!
For us not Stake, but Game; not Goal, but Race—
. THIS is the end of every fan’s desire.
Franklin Pierce Adams was a columnist and prolific doggerelist, best known for “Baseball’s Sad Lexicon (Tinker to Evers to Chance)”. This poem is from his book In Other Words (1912).
42
by Doug Fahrendorff
Rickey and Robinson
Reluctant heroes
Attacking baseball’s racial barriers
Equanimity difficult to maintain
In the face of vitriol
From owners
Fans and other players
Persevering
Opening doors
For Willie, Hank
Countless others
Baseball showing the way
A victory
For human rights
Thanks Jackie!
Eye Spy
by Hilary Barta
Across Waveland, they cry they won’t see
The game they now spy on for free
. Greedy Rickett$ need bucks,
. So buy tickets, you schmucks!
You can say it’s an an “eye-balling fee”.
Fall of 42
By Stuart Shea
Shrouded in soft gauzy myth
Jackie Robinson
smiles, uncomplicated–
angry when necessary,
beatific when possible,
surrounded by angels and devils,
not people.
Making Jackie a figure,
instead of a person,
means we don’t have to deal with
what he dealt with.
We can celebrate his triumph,
which by our celebrating it becomes OUR triumph.
Oh, how good we are.
