Reviving the Art of Baseball Doggerel
On the ’66 Dodgers
I was the youngster on a staff of mostly veterans,
and I learned all I could from them
I couldn’t learn to throw a fastball or curve
like Koufax, that’s something that can’t be taught
But there were a couple of others
I could and did learn some tricks from
(wink wink)
I won’t rat them out even posthumously;
they know who they are,
and they have my eternal gratitude
I must have seen Hank Aaron play
at Wrigley Field in nineteen
fifty nine
But it was my first baseball game,
I knew little about the sport
at the time
But I did see him hit number
seven hundred and fifteen
on the TV
in nineteen seventy four so
I am happy to have that
memory
Thanks so much for the relief
Of three hours or so
On a field we recognize
Where rooting for our team
Is passionate, but harmless.
Thanks for the escape from our reality
Where the rules of the game change every day.
The Rays came to play,
Leading the Dodgers
1-0 through five.
Snell was magic, was unhittable,
And then (incredibly), Cash
Pulled him off the mound.
Whaaaat?
In their dugout, the Dodgers
Must’ve thanked the gods
(Because, up till then,
They’d no answer for his stuff).
They promptly scored two runs
In the sixth, and never looked back.
Sobering news drives me to drink
Sharpening the way I think.
How could these champions be done
Who in my memory still hit and pitch and run?
That I still see the skill with which they pass each test
Drives me even more to do my best
In this game of life.