by Rajesh C. Oza
As comedian George Carlin famously said,
“Baseball begins in the spring, the season of new life.
Football begins in the fall, when everything’s dying …
In football you wear a helmet.
In baseball you wear a cap …
Football has hitting … and unnecessary roughness.
Baseball has the sacrifice.”
So what did the Giants and Padres sacrifice
In Mexico City’s elevation?
The beauty of a 1-0 shutout;
So many flailing arms in spent bullpens;
And a congested scorecard that seemed to replace
Baseball’s home runs with football’s touchdowns.
As the Giants’ announcer Jon Miller said repeatedly,
“¡Adiós pelota! ¡Adiós pelota! ¡Adiós pelota!”
Dr. Oza is a management consultant and facilitates the interpersonal dynamics of MBAs at Stanford University. His recently completed Double Play, written in Stanford’s novel-writing program, will be published in 2024 by Chicago’s Third World Press.
