Reviving the Art of Baseball Doggerel
In the wake
Of the last swing
(Or its simulacrum)
The season’s dust
Settles into memory
Fantasy and myth
In the dust
Of the last out
(Or its doppelgänger)
A season’s dreams
Run and hide
Hibernate and wait
In the spring
Of a scarred hope
(Or its trope)
One fan’s vision
Hungers for one more
Crack of that bat
Every time we eat, he ALWAYS gets the tab.
Shoos a fly on the street — Voila! Here’s your cab.
Scratched his nose at Christie’s, “won” a rare Vermeer.
Wilmer winked at my mom — that’s how I got here.
Michael X. Ferraro is the author of the satirical sports novel Circus Catch, which asks what would happen if one athlete told the truth in the golden age of cheating.
Max Scherzer had Flores’ number
Had always buzz-sawed his lumber
Then the ump blew the call
Not a checked swing at all
And gave a classic the whiff of a dumpster.
Between now and then
Suspended in time
Before the first pitch
A gnawing itch
A nervous tic
Between toss and take
Throw and swing
Stand Mr. and Mrs. History
Waiting to declare
Victory or defeat
Win or loss
Destiny vs. legacy
Giants or Dodgers
Batter up, ye immortals!
Shades of Stu Miller
Candlestick wind
Rippling hope and doubt
Both Scherzer and Wood
Toe to toe
Arm to arm
Right to left
Like Ali-Frazier
Foreman-Ali
A knockout blow
Blowin’ in the wind
Scherzo sonata
Longoria’s aria
Echo of Game 162
Heroes sung and unsung
Singing alive alive oh
One to nothing
This one’s for you
Willie and the vets
Saved by Doval
Cool as a dove
Giants win
Dodgers lose
Lux chapfallen
Freeze-frame it
It’s a wrap