by Jim Siergey
The Ryno
by Dr. Rajesh C. Oza
With apologies to Ogden Nash’s “The Rhinoceros”
The rhino is a homely beast.
Our Ryno was a home run beast.
For human eyes he’s not a feast.
For Cubbie fans he was a feast.
Farewell, farewell, you old rhinoceros.
Hello, hello, you stalwart Ryne Sandberg-us.
I’ll stare at something less prepoceros.
I’ll admire your likeness as a bronze iceberg-us.
Welcome to the HOF pantheon outside of Wrigley.
Along with Ernie, Billy, Ronnie, Harry, and Fergie.
“Larry Yount”
by The Baseball Project
Be sure to catch The Baseball Project on their July 2024 tour through Texas and the Midwest.
The Negro Leagues Got Us Here
by Dr. Rajesh C. Oza
“I can’t believe it,”
said Hall of Famer Willie Mays.
“I never thought I’d see
in my lifetime
a Major League Baseball game
being played on the very field
where I played baseball as a teenager.
It has been 75 years
since I played for the
Birmingham Black Barons
at Rickwood Field…
To learn that my Giants
and the Cardinals will play
a game there and honor
the legacy of the Negro Leagues…
is really emotional for me.
We can’t forget
what got us here
and that was
the Negro Leagues
for so many of us.”
Willie Mays quoted by Bob Nightengale about the MLB game at Birmingham’s historic Rickwood Field to be played on June 20, 2024 (USA Today, June 20, 2023)
Dr. Oza’s novel Double Play sits at the intersection of Ernie Banks’ Cubs, the Negro Leagues, riding the “L,” wrongful convictions, immigration and friendship. It will be published in October 2024 by Chicago’s Third World Press.
Bad Ball Hitter
by R. Gerry Fabian
He came from the Dominican Republic.
A tangle of muscular arms and legs.
He could track a ball in the outfield
with a super radar accuracy.
His arm was above-average but precise.
It was at the plate
that is all seemed to go wrong.
He had no concept of the strike zone.
If he could reach it with his bat,
he would swing hard.
Like a coiled rattler,
he would lash out.
And lo and behold,
he could smash the ball
to every direction of the field.
The hitting coach gave up after
the first three months of instruction.
“What’s the point?”
He told the manager one day.
“The kid’s hitting .367, and
it’s the middle of August.”