In Dusty We Still Trusty
by James Finn Garner
Dusty Baker notched his 2000th win
With a toothpick lodged into his grin
No World Series ring?
That don’t mean a thing
His record requires no spin.
Photo by David J. Phillips/Associated Press
Baseball is a Worrying Thing
by Stan Coveleski (Cleve., 1916-24, Wash. 1925-27, NYY 1928)
The pressure never lets up.
Doesn’t matter what you did yesterday.
That’s history.
It’s tomorrow that counts.
So you worry all the time.
It never ends.
Lord, baseball is a worrying thing.
The Fire and Billy Martin
by Matthew Johnson
From the dugout steps in Game 2 of the ’77 Fall Classic,
Billy Martin watches the Bronx burn.
With the Yanks getting extinguished by the Dodgers,
He ponders, that if the flames kept burning like this,
Maybe Reggie Jackson could finally catch fire.
Matthew Johnson, a two-time Best of the Net Nominee, has appeared in Maudlin House, The Roanoke Review, The Maryland Literary Review, and elsewhere. His debut collection, Shadow Folks and Soul Songs, (Kelsay Books) was released in 2019, and his second, Far from New York State, is scheduled for release in Fall 2022 by New York Quarterly. https://www.matthewjohnsonpoetry.com
Three for Miggy!
by Millie Bovich
Miggy knew well with this at bat
His brain on message ‘neath his hat
He struck the sphere
Heard thund’rous cheer
It’s Hit 3,000 — ‘magine that!
Miggy knew this was the night
And held that piece of lumber tight
A mighty swing
He whacked that thing
Just like a blast of dynamite!
3000’s not a mighty sum
If you count cars or bubble gum.
Count hits instead
I’ve heard it said
The hoopla’s ad infinitum!
Millie Bovich, a longtime Bardball contributor, has been a Tigers fan since the days of Hal Newhouser and Virgil Trucks.