Reviving the Art of Baseball Doggerel
Oh, wear ye beards and Sox of red
And caps with B’s upon your head,
And swing ye bats with balls below
And on the bases never go.
The stripe-ed Tigers are in town
Pitchin’, itchin’ for the crown.
And yonder looms another game
And to the winner goes the fame!
This was received on Sunday afternoon, before Game 2 between the erstwhile Beaneaters and Wolverines. We post it now to remind us all of the evanescent nature of success in the great game, indeed, of life itself.
October’s the month for
strikes and pitches
and bats and bags
and also witches.
Within the ninety degree arc
between the white perpendicular rays
the nine men minus the backstop-outside-the-rays
poise tense relax
poise tense relax
waiting for that nine-inch circumferential sphere,
that five-ounce avoirdupois sphere;
waiting to see if that batter runner
can travel ninety feet from box to bag
before the ball traverses the field from a spot just above
maybe a little in front
of that five-sided whitened slab to a player
and then to another player stretched out –
still within the ninety degrees, inside that right-side unslaked ray –
holding his glove gently, toeing his base heavily, sticking his catch firmly;
waiting for that twenty-seventh raised fist
that eighty-first home park twenty-seventh raised fist,
to learn if there will be another game, or maybe three,
and hopefully more than that.
If you would like to review the official MLB rules for the playing field, and specifically the requirement for unslaked lime, please click here.
Congratulations to the Bucs,
Too many years a team that sucks.
McCutch the likely MVP,
Good pitching and defense are key.
They’ll have a chance for bigger fame,
If they keep Clint Hurdle out of the game.
If a team puts on a run
When its playoff hopes really are done,
.      There’s a fatalistic sense
.      To the battle intense
But it’s also a whole lot of fun.