Inside Baseball (in the Time of Corona)

By Raphael Badagliacca

The air is clear
The sky is blue
The sun is shining on the field
It’s a perfect day for baseball

No one in the stands
No runs no hits no errors
No movement in the pen
It’s a perfect day for baseball

The cathedral of the stadium
Has only feathered faithful
Praying for fallen peanuts
It’s a perfect day for baseball

It’s a perfect day for baseball
So let’s play the inside game
That knows no limits
That transcends time

It’s a perfect day for baseball
When Mariano offers up a cutter
To a smiling Stan the Man
And Willie makes a basket catch

It’s a perfect day for baseball
When Derek flips to Jackie
Who tosses to the luckiest
Man in the world, 6–4-#4

It’s a perfect day for baseball
When Roger hits one out
And Mickey hits one too
And Yogi says it’s deja vu

It’s a perfect day for baseball
When Hammerin’ Hank hits the wall
And the Splendid Splinter returns the ball
And Thurman lifts his mask and grumbles

It’s a perfect day for baseball
When Pee-Wee shakes a hand
And the Babe rounds the bases
Again with such small steps

On the canvas of absence
Let’s paint with the art of memory
Mixing colors and time
Let’s play the inside game

© 2020, by Raphael Badagliacca

Al Kaline, RIP

By James Finn Garner

A perfect swing
A perfect throw
A perfect eye
A perfect show
A perfect ‘mate
A perfect Joe
A perfect gentleman
Mr. Tiger, arigato.

 

Season Opener

by Dan Campion

MLB moves into new era: No players left from 20th century
—Associated Press headline

My fellow fans of certain age,
The AP sez we’ve turned a page:
No active player from our youth
Suits up this year. The broadcast booth
And gimpy knees have claimed our last
Gold Gloves and MVPs. The cast
Has turned completely over to
The understudies and a crew
Of stars we watched when fleet and hale
Now coaching from the dugout rail
And trudging up the dugout stair
To pull young pitchers in despair.
I wish we didn’t have to view
Behind this pillar, but we do.
So settle back and have a brew.
As Ernie Banks said, “Let’s play two!”

Dan is the author of Peter De Vries and Surrealism and coeditor of Walt Whitman: The Measure of His Song and contributor of poetry to many magazines.

 

Big Deals for Some in Baseball

by Stephen Jones

I have read: it used to be, in ancient Rome,
That some gladiators sat by the throne
And enjoyed brief immortality;

That, and some gold, also assured longevity.

Nowadays, instead of slashing swords,
Checkbooks and big bats are the words.
But I wonder: maybe it’s not so different.
The blue sky is still the same firmament,
And ballparks are not unlike coliseums—

Where ballplayers still get life-changing encomiums.

Harper, Trout, Machado, and some others,
Have much in common with their Roman brothers.