Respectable People

By Old Hoss Radbourn

No use in blinking
at the fact
that at that time the game was thought,
by respectable people,
to be only one degree above
grand larceny,
arson,
mayhem
and those who engaged in it were
beneath notice of
decent society.

Thanks to Jim Koenigsberger @Jimfrombaseball.

MLB All-Counties-of-Ireland Team

1B   Wayne Tyrone
2B   Cavan Biggio
SS   Bunny Downs
3B   Jeter Downs

LF   Shane Mona[g]han
CF   Kerry Dineen
RF   Russ Derry

C     Corky Miller

LHP  Mike Kilkenny
RHP  Kerry Wood, Kerry Ligtenberg, Kerry Lacy, Kerry Taylor

MGR   Mayo Smith

Owner  Tom Monaghan

Mid-Spring Beat Up

by James Finn Garner

Can our boy Judge come out to play?
At noon our foursome tees up.
Sorry, fellas, not today,
He’s sorta mid-spring beat up.

That man Aaron is one hunk of thirst,
The girls at the club wanna meet up.
No no, ladies, training comes first,
He’s a bit mid-spring beat up.

At the hotel, the maids are asking,
Can Judge ever put the seat up?
Bending over? That’s multitasking
For someone mid-spring beat up.

Should I renew my season seats,
Watch my savings get eat up?
Baseball gives your pains surcease
‘Til you get mid-spring beat up.

 

Outside the Green Room

by Peter G. Mladinic

In passing, they have words
that ruffle feathers.
Yogi, Whitey, and Mickey don’t like
Tennessee’s looks,
his Chesterfield smoldering in a holder,
the carnation in his lapel.

Tennessee’s no fan of home plate,
the outfield,
the mound Whitey’s cleats kick dirt from
before the curve leaves his hand.
Will it be low and side,
a strike?

The three Yankees have been on the air.
Jack Parr
asked good questions.
Tennessee’s about to go on,
but here’s this scuffle
with players

who know nothing of his Blanche,
the always
of her famous line
about kindness. Go to blazes, he says.
They walk away, thinking him good
with words, not worth their time.

Peter Mladinic’s most recent book of poems, Voices from the Past, is available from Better Than Starbucks Publications. An animal rights advocate, he lives in Hobbs, New Mexico.