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We Know the Score

By Stuart Shea

I beg of you,
Please don’t say that in his last nine at-bats he’s hitting .222.

Please don’t mention a two-game win streak,
Or how many homers he hit in one week
Or other meaningless stats
Like his career record in four games against the Rays,
Or his ERA on Wednesdays.

Even those of us without degrees in statistics
Can tell when “conclusions” are not realistic.

Between announcers making mountains of data molehills
And old-time players saying on-base percentage isn’t very important
Because walks clog the bases
Or being patient is wimpy
And waiting for walks erodes a hitter’s skills,
It’s enough to make you want to SCREAM
And grab the remote

And turn off Jamie Campbell, Thom Brennaman, or Rory Markas
And ponder the end of the world in darkness.

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Posted 6/30/2009

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A Baseball Poem #3

by Stephen Jones

Anticipation’s eyes locked

pitcher-to-batter batter-to-pitcher
catcher & umpire the close-ended
joint of a bright green fan laid down

spread open warning track edged
& in an outfield’s groomed grass
a leather glove thumped waiting

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Posted 6/29/2009

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Baseball Waltz (Let’s Go To The Ball Park)

Words and music by Tom Rinaldi

(Scroll down to play the MP3)

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There’s something about looking out on a big field of green
A diamond, four bases, and ninety feet in-between
The players go ‘round with their pant legs rolled up to their knees
The smell of fresh peanuts ‘a roasting is caught in the breeze

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Let’s go to the ball park
I haven’t been in a while
I used to watch my favorite slugger
Knock that baseball a mile
Let’s go to the ball park
Let’s be kids again
Hot dogs with mustard
And frozen custard
Just like it was back then

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The magic allure of the game is as pure as the snow
With nicknames like Lefty and Dizzy and Murderer’s Row
And nothing’s as pretty as watching the infield “get two”
Or watching a pop up fall out of a big sky of blue

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Repeat Chorus

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Where else can you go
Where they stop the show
Two-thirds of the way
Just to stretch and sing a song
Before they continue to play?

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Repeat Chorus

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[audio:http://bardball.com/audio/01 Track 1.mp3]

Posted 6/5/2009

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A Baseball Poem #2

by Stephen Jones

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Slower than a slider
the sun the breeze today
a wild pitch of weather is

The sky settled in May’s dugout
a month’s sun-and-cloud teaming
. . . and what of defense?

We’ll see large bulky clouds
crouch, the sun concuss
& diamond dreams evolve.

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For more of Stephen’s poetry and photographs, check out his blog.

Posted 6/1/2009