When Oakland’s Swingin’ A’s were swingin’,
A hard-playing, mustachioed team–
Williams quit after winning two titles.
The skipper never changed or mellowed
In Expos white or Padres yellow.
Old-school grit, speed and defense vital.
Angels in heaven might hear him scream,
“You with the harp!  You call that singin’?”

Paul
Hit a ball
Out for his fifth straight day. No Sox
Bat has got six straight days of park-vacating knocks.

Mitch
Also hit a ball out, which
Put things such that his squad won.
No outs–not a pitch (bar 10 and a half prior innings’ worth)–prior to winning run.

Zack
Didn’t lack
For Ks,
Notching 10 against Rays.

Ryan Howard
Is not a coward.
His hit wound up a big inning
So his squad wound up winning.

Brian
Had to start pitching, as Placido and Ryan
Both got hit by a pitch
On back-to-back plays, that inning. At that point, you must switch.

Carl Pavano
Had to go mano-a-mano
With his opposing moundsman. Carl didn’t notch a hit
But as his squad had 8 in as many at-bats, was cool with it.

Justin Smoak
Was part of a ninth-inning croak.
His squad was up by four
But couldn’t shut Washington’s door.

Ember Nickel blogs at Lipogram! Scorecard!

Fans in New England (the Red Sox Nation)
Are masochists in anticipation.

Yankee fans are clever guys
Two strikes on batter, they all rise
Sophisticated crowd.  Who knew
All of them could count to two?

The Cubby fans are loud and jivey,
Or are they rooting for the ivy?

It’s Baseball Night in Canada, eh?
Do the Blue Jays fight or do they play?

Texas loves the Texas Rangers
To the rest of us they’re total strangers.

Mets fans shout it:
Fuhgeddaboudit!

Good players are what their diamond lacks
But their fans still cheer the Diamondbacks.

The team is shaky in Seattle
The players may but the fans don’t rattle.

Florida fans all like to laze
Watch the game, take in the Rays.

Some fans will cheer and that’s
All we have for the Washington Nats.

Philadelphia’s fandom
Cheers or boos—it’s random.

The bats have finally come to life
but things here still don’t seem right

Uggla can’t get going here
and Linebrink fills the fans with fear

every single pitch he throws
has a fan’s heart coming up his throat

for fear the game will soon be lost
and then a home run ball is tossed

when will Fredi make a move
let Venters close and Kimbrel groove

his fastballs in the 8th instead
so we can try to get ahead?

we can’t beat Philly 2 of 3
and then get smothered by D.C.
makes no sense if you ask me!

Consider the case of Lastings Milledge,
Career on the wane and prospects pillaged.
So many chances, not one of them clicked.
Now playing Triple A out in the sticks.
How cruelly ironic to have that first name,
Success was so fleeting throughout his game.
Drafted and signed with ado and aplomb,
but the years and the game rolled crushingly on.
To what sort of player can you really relate:
The superstars, scrubs — or should-have-been-greats?

ATLANTA BRAVES
It’s a New Brave World,
New players, new chief, newspeak,
And an old Chipper.

FLORIDA MARLINS
A Southern poser:
If teams play in the forest
Will anyone care?

NEW YORK METS
Luis Castillo
Will drop pop-ups someplace else
This sunny summer.

PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES
The best rotation?
Either what the Phillies have
Or the earth itself.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Despite higher Werth,
From Ankiel to Zimmerman
They’ll still be boring.

Nyjer Morgan? What a jerk,
Putting catchers out of work.

Doesn’t get on base a lot,
Doesn’t use the speed he’s got.

Doesn’t understand the game,
Hasn’t got an ounce of shame,

Fighting with obnoxious fans,
Tossing baseballs in the stands.

The silver lining to this song?
He won’t be here for very long.

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

.
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

BRAVES
No Glavine. No Smoltz.
“Chipper” Jones no longer is.
Where has my youth gone?
.

MARLINS
If a ball club plays
In an empty stadium
Does anyone hear?
.

METS
A pleasant spring, but
No Reyes of sun for the Mets.
FBI? Thyroid?
.

PHILLIES
Is this an old team?
Well, 18 of them were born
Before Reagan’s years.
.

NATIONALS
As Strasbourg links France
and Germany, Steve Strasburg
spans Nats’ talent gap.

Posted 4/4/10