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Halfway-Point Haiku

by D. Bruce Brown

Is Haiku foolish?
For the national pastime?
Heavens, I hope not.

NL West
Arizona
Nice guys finish last
Crabby managers do win
They still need pitching

Los Angeles
Is money the key?
It can bring in the big names
No, it’s the scouting

Colorado
Thin air skews his stats.
Is Todd a Hall of Famer?
No, probably not

San Francisco
We won it all twice…
With an absence of offense
Only even years

San Diego
A beautiful park
The only Hall of Famer
Is up in the booth

NL East
Atlanta
Fourteen in a row
Is not so impossible
It might start this year

Washington
First picks starting games
Davey says this is his last
A doormat no more

Philadelphia
A team on the rise
They are not now any more
We all miss Harry

New York
A small pantheon
But will be growing soon now
Matt Harvey’s a star

Miami
Was ever team
More worthy than its owner
To be in the Bigs?

NL Central
St. Louis
The league’s best record
They have birds on their jerseys
We all will miss Stan

Pittsburgh
A great tradition
Lives on in the memory of fans
Maybe the year’s here!

Cincinnati
Phillips is wondrous
The rest are outstanding too
It’s Dusty’s last year

Chicago
The city’s windy
Is anything more constant
Than fans’ apathy?

Milwaukee
Segura is great
John Axford is clean shaven
Nicest fans ever

 

D. Bruce Brown has posted daily trivia questions for Horsehide Trivia since 1997.  He is also the president of the Bob Davids chapter of SABR.

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Marlins Stadium Zen

By Stuart Shea

If a ball falls in the outfield
And no one is there to cheer,
Will the Marlins draw a million fans this year?

 

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2013 NL East Prediction Haiku

By Stuart Shea

BRAVES
Georgia is the world’s
Top pecan supplier. Plus
Andrelton Simmons

MARLINS
Why is a fish tank
So fascinating to watch?
Billion-dollar chum.

METS
No, it’s not a joke!
Cowgill and Valdespin are
In center field now

NATIONALS
Unnatural arm,
Unbelieveable results–
Can Strasburg stay fit?

PHILLIES
The old and infirm
Are the last to know that they
Are old and infirm

 

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March Baseball

by Stephen Jones

There is nothing to speak of, so far

Except, maybe, mega-contracts, buying the World Series
and demonic trades, and key pre-season injuries

The Yankees are back with battered fixations
The Marlins are simply trade-and-bait
The Nationals are openly trepadacious
The Phillies are, well, on the clock
San Francisco, so far, is blowing smoke
Los Angeles is spending its bank

. . . and the list goes on

Summertime passion is now full-time
obsession and has little to do with “the game”

 

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The Ballad of Scott Podsednik (Sung to “I’m Movin’ On”)

By Joyce Heiser

Came out of high school, stayed in Texas awhile
Seems he just couldn’t make it all seem worthwhile
He’s movin’ on. He’s movin’ on.
Rangers said “So long son, go enjoy the sun”
He’s Marlin gone.

Minor leagues kept trading, kept cutting him loose
Never was the engine, just a little caboose
Seven years rolled on, they just moved on.
Finally majored a run in 2000 and 1
Would they keep him on?

Another year came and another deal too,
Milwaukee got him in 2002,
He still moved on, he was there and gone.
Led the league in base steals, tried to keep it real,
But they moved him on.

Chicago was home for a few good years
Got a World Series ring, a girl with bunny ears,
He’s carryin’ on, maybe he’ll stay on.
But another year came, and another ball game,
He packed and was gone.

Up in the mountains, till 2009,
Back to bat that year in the White Sox line,
Another movin’ on, another hometown gone.
Even though he had fans, Chicago had other plans
And they let him move on.

One year with the Royals, still stealing some base,
Let him go to the Dodgers, problems slowing his pace.
Trouble movin’ on, released and on his own.
Try up North, play the West, half-a-year at best
So he’s movin’ on.

Finally landed in Philly, more like Lackawanna
Scranton doesn’t really sound like baseball nirvana.
Will he be movin’ on?  Sing that travelin’ song?
Thirteen teams, eighteen years, Hard to change your gears
And keep movin’ on.