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Glove of Dreams

by Dr. Rajesh C. Oza

On sandlots every Spring, Summer and Fall,
It caught many a ball.

I still love
My Bobby Murcer Glove.

Though my bats are in heaven above,
I still have that childhood glove.

Had I known of Shigeaki Aso,
My glove of dreams could have taken me pro.

Aso is Wilson’s “Ball Glove Master Craftsman;”
With his tender care, my mitt might still see the sun.

Instead, that old slab of leather
Waits for its season of dreamy weather.

When my granddaughters play softball,
My glove will be there, Spring, Summer and Fall.

Dr. Oza sent in this link to an informative article about Shigeaki Aso from a website called Just Gloves. Also, the video from NHK from which the pic above was taken can be found at this site.

 

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Taiji Master Coaches the Rookie Before His First Major League At-Bat

By Louise Grieco

Gather the yin energy and the yang energy
into your dantien – the center of gravity
from which all power emanates.
Soften all the joints and disjoints of your body.
Calm your mind – and in that stillness
wait with patience for the pitch.
Follow its journey through time and space
as the stadium expands to touch
the edges of the universe.

Time will stop. The world will stop.

Then the chi energy begins its spiral
outward from the dantien,
flowing like water, radiating like the sun,
sparking to the bat, the ball as it flies
to the upper deck of center field.
Stillness gives way to a roaring sea,
and the world begins to spin again
as you round the bases.

Okay, Grasshopper, show ‘em what you got.

Louise Grieco’s baseball poems often travel at lightspeed to the outer reaches of the galaxy. More a fan of the sport than of any particular team, she nevertheless rooted for the Yankees as a child growing up near Boston in the 1950’s-’60s. She lives and writes in Albany NY.

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MLB All-Time Star Trek Team

1B   Scotty Barr
2B   Rougned Odo
SS   Troi Tulowitzki
3B   Rom Santo

LF   Chekhov Lemon
CF   Kirby Picard
RF   Captain Kirk Gibson

C   Glenn Borgmann, Jean-Luc Pickles Dillhoefer

LHP   Tom Gorn-zelanny, Carlos Rodónberry
RHP   Ricky Bones, Rob Tribble, Seven of Nino Espinosa, Tommy Wrath of Kahnle

MGR   Spocky Anderson

Grand Nagus Rom of the Ferengi

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Salary Dump

by R. Gerry Fabian

The season was over
six months ago.
The veterans worth anything
were traded;
those remaining
slowly got DFA notices.

Saddled with a bunch of raw kids,
the manager suffers through their lapses
and assures the media
it’s all part of the “youth movement.”

Alone in his tiny office,
leans back in his squeaky chair
and wonders when
one of these kids
will give him six “solid” innings.

R. Gerry Fabian is the author of three novels and four books of poetry. His latest book of poems, Ball On The Mound, is a collection of original baseball poems, available at Amazon.