Matty Alou, The Poem
By Hart Seely
Roy White, you did all right.
Jim Ray Hart, you played your part.
Willie Mays, those were the days!
Matty Alou, is it really true?
Duke Sims, you climbed on limbs.
Sparky Lyle, you made us smile.
Horace Clarke, you jumped the shark.
Matty Alou, we must bid adieu?
Harvey Kuenn, you made the scene.
Juan Marichal, you gave ‘em hell.
Steve Blass, let’s raise a glass!
Matty Alou, we’ll remember you.
Hart Seely’s new book, The Juju Rules: Or How to Win Ballgames From Your Couch, will be published by Houghton Mifflin in time for Opening Day 2012. You can pre-order it from Amazon at this link.
A Fan Long Irritated by Self-Proud Prattle
by Alan P. Rudy
McCarver was a Cardinal
We’re taught to believe
He caught Bob Gibson
For his thumb he still grieves
Yet as an announcer
No praise for the Cards, just bashes
By omission or commission
The man’s head’s up his asses.
Alan is a sociology professor at Central Michigan University.
Tastee Freese
by James Finn Garner
The Rangers lay their popguns down
Nolan Ryan sports a frown
The Cardinals new life have found
When Mr. Freese comes to town
The Texas bullpen crashes down
Nelson Cruz fields like a clown
The seat of Mark Lowe’s pants turns brown
When Mr. Freese comes to town
Bud Selig puts away the crown
Ol’ Dallas? One more cowtown
We all get a Game 7 showdown
When Mr. Freese comes to town
LaRussa as Lincoln
by Todd Herges
Dearest Mary,
Mine eyes have seen the stresses
of the team far back in June;
of a long goatee brought in to save
but failing far too soon.
Four score and one game makes a half,
and both sides of the all-star break
our men did try their best, yet
good progress they could not make.
Out went McClellan; in came Grant
to help us win the day,
while Sherman (twenty-nine) burned the South
and turned the tide our way.
And now, my dear, I’ve decided that
to bring Cardinal nation together I’ve got
to give command of the ball, at the very end,
to the able Ulysses S. Motte.
Prayerfully yours,
Abe
Milwaukee Fans, With Heads High
By Stuart Shea
It’s been a good year,
And we still have beer.
Prince may be gone,
But our buzz is still on.
