by Hilary Barta
Once sluggers who slugged would forego
Making trots round the bases a show
Now they point to the sky
Flip the bat, wave goodbye
What theatrics await their next blow?
North Side Jekyll & Hyde
by James Finn Garner
This Cubs team elicits some frights
Swinging like scrubs, punchless some nights
Then, as if dosed,
Brute strength is exposed
Who knows which will show up tonight?
Red Barber in the Bowl
by Stuart Shea
From the Cincinnati Times-Star, 1937, on announcer Red Barber’s consistent hawking of Wheaties cereal:
Red Barber has charm and he shows it,
And over the air he sure throws it–
But with all his entreaties
To munch those damned Wheaties
He eats ham and eggs and he knows it!
Toe Jam
by James Finn Garner
Rodón was hot from the get-go
Stalked the elusive perfecto
‘Til some hobbit-like feet
Made hearts skip a beat–
Still, a no-no for a guy who’d been let go.
Safe at Almost Home
by Michael X. Ferraro
AKA Holliday Road
The left foot of young Alec Bohm
Elusively angled toward home.
The ump called him safe,
Yet the Braves still chafe
Since the replay was clear as foam.