by Stephen Jones
Tit for tat,
The Rays came back.
Now the series is tied …
Whether game three
Will a street brawl be
Is anybody’s guess.
But one thing’s for certain:
Bubble or not,
In future days
The electronic strike zone
Is a must.
Go Get ‘Em Tigers
by James Finn Garner
The blue plastic transistor radio
I snuck into
Sister Geraldine’s class
That October
Poured heavenly images
Into my ears
The centerfielder moved to short
The old lion roaming in right
The brawny arms of Willie the Wonder
The soulful stare of Mickey Lolich
And the plate Freehan protected from Brock
NONE SHALL PASS!
All the saints and martyrs
Bringing a miracle to Motown
Narrated by the voice of God
In a sweet Georgia baritone
Yankees 9, Rays 3
by Stephen Jones
In this bubble-ball age,
Anything can happen —
Including a socially distanced
Rivalry between two teams
That actually hate each other.
I grew up hearing about crimson stuff
Just like this — you know,
New York vs Boston, and the like, and
It made going to school easier then.
New York vs Tampa now does the same.
It may be a new world, now, what
With social media and a pandemic,
But some gut things just don’t change.
Yankees 10, Indians 9
by Stephen Jones
This year’s MLB playoff bubble
Has brought a lot of firsts:
If nothing else,
The longest 9-inning game.
Back-and-forth, back-and-forth,
And nine crazy plays —
Truth be told,
Both the Yankees and Indians
Tried to give the game away.
Yankees 12, Indians 3
by Stephen Jones
Cole versus Bieber –
Advertised as “pitchers’ duel”
On pre-game paper.
Then Bang! Judge hit the ball –
And not even a cloud
Of the Cleveland midge
Could stop
The Cleveland hemorrhage.