With Love and Ancient Cautions: From a Wood Fan to a Strasburg Fan

By Joe Moag

Unto He!

Unto He, the new rookie,
He with an arm fit to hoist Zeus’ bolt,
Fit to slay our past; fit to redeem our degradations.

Unto He, our welcomed savior!
A reprieve from years of ill, from years of doubt,
From years of lowness.

Unto He, the Lifter!
Unto He, the Changer!
Unto He, the Future!

Unto He, Alleviator of this state
Of prolonged exile, of overdue vengeance,
Of our just and righteous payback!

Unto He we place this proof
That our faith, traveled across orphanage and dismissal,
Our Faith, that thing
Which steeled our resolve
To simply stay in the game long enough,

Has borne fruit! It has brought
Him, here, to Us.

No light as bright as this has ever shone, only to
Fall away in wreckage through the dimming of life’s cold onslaughts and hurly-burl!
Immortals don’t flinch, or suffer, or miss their mark – they shine!
Our wait itself is the toil and testament to the surety of this!

This Game and its Gods, who sit high and low,
Sworn sacred to the mischief in their souls
Could never be jealous enough
To make this foreseen future, this deserved fate,
Fall short.

Posted 6/27/10

Free Bat Day, Tiger Stadium, 1971

by James Finn Garner

.

Rallies were exciting,
Cheers a clanging roar
When each kid 14 and under
Got a bat at the stadium door.

They pounded on the railings,
The seats, pillars and floor,
Then they pounded on each other–
Bats ain’t given out no more.
.
Posted 6/22/10

The Stephen Strasburg Fallout (A Reflection)

by Stephen Jones

.
From the much-anticipated debut
Standing on a mound of dirt
To voicing Letterman’s “Top 10”
Standing on a mound of media

Only days apart quite a “change up”
Perhaps more so & swifter
Than the time he spent between pitches
(The umpire asking him to “slow down”)

From baseball’s eager expectation
From its projection of possibilities
& into media’s spotlight attention
In history 14Ks still outweigh a Top 10

.
Posted 6/14/10

American League West 2010 Haiku Forecasts

By Stuart Shea

ANGELS
Rich Latino woos
White fans who usually hire
Latino workmen.

ATHLETICS
Moneyball’s sunset
Means the lineup now includes
Kevin Kouzmanoff.

MARINERS
Hey, Jack Z….that nut
That fell off the hitting tree?
He’s your problem now.

RANGERS
Sweet spring robins’ song
May sound suspiciously like
“Neftali Feliz.”

.

Posted 4/20/2010

A Young Fellow’s Fancy

by Hilary Barta

.

It’s Spring, and a young fellow’s fancy…
well, you know, a fella gets antsy
.     Sees a bat, ball and glove
.     and his thoughts turn to love
Just like when Sid Vicious saw Nancy

.

Hilary Barta, well-known comic book illustrator, also runs Limerwrecks, a terrific website with limericks on monster movies, film noir, comic books and other pop culture. 

Posted 419/2010