by Fred Lovato
Stunning a nation
Shohei admits to marriage
finally gets a ring
Spring Training
by Sandy Koufax
People
who write about
spring training
not
being necessary
have never
tried
to throw
a baseball.
700 Million Reasons to Be Cheerful
by Fred Lovato
No worries, Shohei
you won free agent jackpot
bank account’s healthy
Fred reports from Okinawa: “TV shows are already reporting from Dodgers’ training camp about Shohei’s every move.”
MLB All-Jingle-Bells Team
By Dr. Rajesh C. Oza and James Finn Garner
1B Josh Bell
2B Juan Bell
SS Les Bell
3B Buddy Bell
LF George Bell
CF Cool Papa Bell
RF Beau Bell
C Herman Bell, Terry Bell
LHP Chad Bell, Eric Bell, Fred Bell, Lefty Bell, Ralph Bell
RHP Bill “Ding Dong” Bell, Cliff Bell, Gary Bell, George Bell, Heath Bell, Hi Bell, Rob Bell, Trevor Bell
MGR Jayce Tingley
Doppelgänger: Catch Me If You Con
by Rajesh C. Oza
Catchers are a con,
With the masks that they don.
They move outside pitches in,
Making the umpire’s head spin.
Like a leathery snapping turtle,
Their fat gloves makes pitches fertile.
Fingers flash sneaky signs,
Keeping balls out of Wrigley’s vines.
But what catchers really hide,
Is that they have another side:
Their future after catching daily trouble,
May emerge as a post-playing days’ double.
Eyes darting, they see the whole field,
Imagining that someday they will wield
A baton like Connie, Gabby, Girardi, and Bochy,
And, of course, that wise backstop/leader named Yogi,
Who said, “It ain’t over till it’s over,”
Maybe meaning careers evolve forever.
Perhaps suggesting that a catcher is
To a big-league manager,
As a caterpillar eying the blue sky is
To an imperial monarch butterfly.
“It ain’t over till it’s over” is the last sentence of “Double Play,” Dr. Oza’s novel which will be published in 2024 by Chicago’s Third World Press. Dr. Oza is a management consultant and facilitates the interpersonal dynamics of MBAs at Stanford University.