For Sale
by Stephen Jones
Sale: Storied Franchise
By McCourt in divorce court
Call: 1-800-Bailout
The Dodgers May Be Bankrupt
by Stephen Jones
The Dodgers may be bankrupt
But the team is not Frank McCourt
Player personnel should not be
Argued part of personal finance
Or a sticking part of ugly divorce
But he’s twined off-the-field calamity
With baseball history
And proved successfully
Frank McCourt is truly
A “dodger” financially
Continental Divide
by Edmund Conti
The Dodgers are bankrupt
And–here it comes,
Directly from Brooklyn–
“Dem Bums!”
We Cannot Know His Legendary Head (A Villanelle)
by Eric Nusbaum
We cannot know his legendary head,
We cannot know his riddle-speak, his swing,
His heart that greets no consequence, no dread.
Oblivious (or publicly misread),
He went forth like a jester, like a king.
We cannot know his legendary head.
Ramirez never anguished, never bled.
Perfection seemed a right and simple thing.
His heart? It greets no consequence, no dread.
A paradox: collective joy and dread
Awash in pride and drunk on estrogen–
We cannot know his legendary head.
A selfish man and insecure, they said.
But maybe public shame can even sting
A heart that greets no consequence, no dread.
And maybe all the jokes had turned to lead,
The time had come to leave the center ring.
We’ll never know his legendary head,
His heart that greets no consequence, no dread.
Eric writes the terrific blog Pitchers & Poets. One of his posts from P&P appears in the 2010 edition of Best American Sports Writing.
NL West 2011 Haiku Predictions
By Stuart Shea
ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS
With Mark Reynolds gone,
It won’t be quite as windy
this year at Chase Field
COLORADO ROCKIES
Clutch Car-Go signed,
Willy Taveras signed too–
One step up, one back.
LOS ANGELES DODGERS
An oblique signing,
Middling veteran Jon Garland–
Now an oblique strain.
SAN DIEGO PADRES
It is much tougher
To sneak up on somebody
When they know you’re there.
SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS
As full as lush peonies,
Hosting every bee and fly–
Brian Wilson’s beard.
