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Nap Lajoie

by Michael Ceraolo

I once was quoted as saying
no one gives you anything in baseball,
but that isn’t correct
Morgan Murphy gave me and other Phillies many hits
when he stole signs from the stands
and relayed them to a coacher through a buzzer system,
and the coacher then relayed them to us
And the St. Louis Browns gave me half-a-dozen bunt hits
during a doubleheader to end the 1901 season,
enabling me to win the batting title and a car
I took those gifts without apology,
though I often wished that the Browns
would have given us the ’08 pennant instead

 

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Intentional Walk

by R. Gerry Fabian

It is a pure sign of respect.

Yet a gamble that must be calculated.
The number of outs;
where the runners are;
is first base open?
Who is up next?
Is his bat hot?
Does he thrive in these situations?

The manager makes the decision
and carries
the consequences
long into the late night.

R. Gerry Fabian is the author of three novels and four books of poetry. His latest book of poems, Ball On The Mound, is a collection of original baseball poems, available at Amazon.

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White Sox Strategic Planning

by GM Chris Getz

If you would have told me
we were going to end up
flirting with the record,

I would have been
a little surprised.

Now if you would have told me
prior to the year
that we would have ended up
with over 100 losses,

105,

110,

I wouldn’t have been
as surprised.

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Tommy’s Guarantee

by Tommy Lasorda

I have never, ever,
since I managed,
ever
told a pitcher to throw at anybody,
nor will I ever.

And if I ever did,
I certainly wouldn’t
make him throw
at a
f–king .130 hitter like Lefebvre
or f–king Bevacqua,
who couldn’t hit water
if he fell
out of a f–king boat.

And I guaran-f–king-tee you this:
When I pitched
and I was going to pitch against a team
that had guys on it
like Bevacqua,
I sent a f–king limousine
to get the c–ksucker
to make sure
he was in the motherf–king lineup
because I kicked that c–ksucker’s ass
any day of the week.

He’s a f–king motherf–king big mouth,
I’ll tell you that.

 

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Baseball Hail Mary

by R. Gerry Fabian

His arm is tired from last night.
He knows a tired arm helps his sinker.
Ninth inning, up one run.
5, 6, 7 in the order:
5 hitter two foul balls
swing and miss on outside sinker –
6 hitter takes fastball for strike one,
swings and misses at an outside fastball
takes splitter down and in for strike three –
7 hitter fouls off a center of the plate
fastball,
he breathes a sigh of relief –
takes sinker down and away for strike two.
His catcher calls for a waist pitch up high.
He realizes the catcher is unaware.
He shakes him off.
Again, the same high waist pitch.
Should he call time and explain.
He pounds his glove and shakes him off.
The umpire has been giving low and away
all night long.
He gets the sign.
Sinker low and away,
the batter swings and misses.
He has it,
an immaculate inning,
nine strikes – three outs.