The ‘birds were turned back by Napoli
And their hitting missed the scenery
Ron’s dances and Punto’s charming wrongs
But wait a minute, something’s wrong…

Hey, Tony, Tony Italiano!
Hey, Tony, Tony Italiano!
No, no, no; no World Series win for you, you Sicialiano

Was it the last dance?
The last dance for John and Suzy’s broadcast love
No, no, their last chance?
To get us to a big dance Thurs night
We need them beside us
Beside us, to guide us
Their boldness, that unfolds us
‘Cause when they’re sad
We’re so, so sad

So let’s not dance the last dance
No, no last dance
No, no last dance Thurs night

Was it the last dance?
The last dance for John and Suzy’s broadcast love
No, no their last chance?
To get us to the big dance Thurs night
We need them beside us
Beside us, to guide us
Their boldness, that unfolds us
‘Cause when they’re glad
We’re so, so glad

So let’s not dance the last dance
No, no last dance
No, no last dance thurs night

You can find more of David’s work throughout the Yankee blog, It Is High, It Is Far, It Is…..caught.

All the network media dorks
Sing the praises of New York

They hate visiting places strange
Like Motown and the Texas Range

They’d rather crawl through Gotham sewers
Than watch the Snakes or Rays or Brewers.

They’re happy as a dog with bone
To stay in th’ Eastern Time Zone.

But Yankees pitching ain’t worth a lick.
The Phillies are my pick, in six.

Rain pours down
drenching everything.
The season has ten days left.

Why does the fall always try us?
Why must you need to be brave?

If I stay still I will not wake you.
If only the rain would stop,
my thoughts would not try to drown it out
and we could both sleep.

Dream of baseball. Can I?
The Giants and Cardinals are making a late run.
They’re fighting for their lives…
their playoff lives.

“Fighting for their lives.”
Where we’re living,
That sounds so stupid now,
so totally stupid.

Who can make a team rise, make it feel like new
With flesh the hue of choc’late, he brings a miracle or two
The Grandy Man, oh the Grandy Man can
The Grandy Man can ’cause he brings a sure glove and applies good wood

One of the greatest Yank “bros,” wears his stripes with pride
Hitting big home runs while his teammates “slide”
The Grandy Man, the Grandy Man can
The Grandy Man can ’cause he brings a sure glove and applies good wood

The Grandy Man makes everything he does satisfying, not capricious
Now you talk about your childhood wishes,
Far better than Swishalicious

Oh, who can heal like Apollo, wipe away bad dreams
Separate the sorrow and both right and lefties cream
The Candy Man, oh the Candy Man can
The Grandy Man can ’cause he brings a sure glove and applies good wood

The Grandy Man makes everything he does satisfying, not capricious
Now you talk about your childhood wishes,
Far better than Swishalicious
Yeah, yeah, yeah

Oh, who can heal like Apollo, wipe away bad dreams
Separate the sorrow and both right and lefties cream
The Candy Man, oh the Candy Man can
The Grandy Man can ’cause he brings a sure glove and applies good wood
Yes, The Grandy Man can ’cause he brings a sure glove and applies good wood-a-Grandy Man, a-Grandy Man, a-Grandy Man
Grandy Man, a-Grandy Man, a-Grandy Man
Grandy Man, a-Grandy Man, a-Grandy Man….

You’ll find David posting with the rest of Yankee stalwarts over at It Is High, It Is Far, It Is….Caught.

Chicago, Chicago, that toddlin’ town
Those Chisox, those Chisox, they play like they’re clowns
Bet your bottom dollar even AJ could have won in Chicago, Chicago,
The town where poor Adam Dunn got shut down

On West 35th Street, that great street, I just want to say
They do things they don’t do on Broadway
Ozzie had the time, the worst time of his life
His bats went dead, unlike his hot-looking wife
In Chicago, Chicago, Joe Girardi’s home town

Chicago, Chicago, that toddlin’ town
Chicago, Chicago the Yanks will toss them around – we love it
Bet your bottom dollar Hughes will lose his blues in Chicago, Chicago,
The town where for six innings even he shut them down

On West 35th Street, that great street, I just want to say
They do things they don’t do on Broadway
Ozzie had the time, the worst time of his life
His bats went dead, unlike his hot-looking wife
In Chicago, Chicago, Chicago, Joe Girardi’s home town

A litany of problems

.     Dead arm  Tommy John
.     Rotator cuff  Inflamed shoulder
.     Hamstring  Deep bruising

A roll call of DL pitchers

.     Chamberlain & Chavez
.     Colon Corona & Curtis
.     Feliciano & Hughes
.     Marte Sanit & Soriano

And a lazy susan carousel of prospects

.     Coming & going from the minors

What’s next?  What’s the math?
How to engineer the gap between
The starting rotation and Rivera?

Tar, grease, sweat and snot —
clever viscous daubs
skew its dives and dips.

Powerless to determine
its seriously wacko flight,
mighty sluggers whiff.

.

Barbara Gregorich is the author of She’s on First, Women at Play, and the recently published mystery, Sound Proof. Her poetry has been published in Barnwood, Blue Collar Review, Prairie Journal, and other magazines.

RIP Gil-Scott Heron

See that half black boy over there, runnin’ scared
His baseball game just goes half-throttle
He done quit getting high fives to choke full time
So now his fans are living in the bottle

See that half black boy over there, runnin’ scared
His baseball game just goes half-throttle
This ol’ man has got a problem
Can’t do hardly anything,
Minka won’t get a wedding ring but a bottle.

And don’t you think it’s a crime
When time after time, our old heroes send us reaching for the bottle
Living in a bottle

See that half brotha he was so fine before he
Stared to decline
While his fans hit the bottle
Last time he was fine was in 2009
and now he’s just markin’ time,
While his fans hit the bottle.

You’ll find David posting with the rest of Yankee stalwarts over at It Is High, It Is Far, It Is….Caught.