by the Bleacher Bum Band
Top of the First, Early Season
by Mark J. Mitchell
Settling in. Scorecard out. Sun coats the stands
like butter on popcorn. The catcher snaps
a fastball. Strike. Welcome to a game
of light. Two beer guy passes. Don’t write names,
just numbers. Ground ball through the right. Sliced slap—
infield fly rule called. It’s going to land
in leather. Catcher runs out, tries to tame
the phenom on the mound. Nods, and then slaps
his butt. Quick strike. Then he tests out the same
pitch. Bat crack. Ball to pocket. Fast hands.
Short to second. That veteran just stands
on the bag. Using his crack wrist, he snaps
the throw to first. Inning ends. A new game.
Mark J. Mitchell is a die-hard Giants fan. His latest book is Roshi, San Francisco (Norfolk Press). Other baseball related poems can be found in the anthologies Line Drives and Good Poems, American Places.
μπÎιζμπολ
by Dan Campion
The ancients had three Fates, three Graces;
Past home plate there are three bases.
Nine muses trace ends and beginnings;
A regulation game’s nine innings.
Baseball follows Greece and Rome
In cheering heroes bound for Home.
The mound’s Olympus, press box Fame.
No wonder it’s a Classic game.
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. The title, by the way, spells “Baseball”, at least according to Google Translate.
Unbudgeable Grudge
by Jim Siergey
I have hated the Dodgers
ever since they beat my White Sox
in the ‘59 World Series
when I was a kid
So I am very happy
about what Tampa Bay
did
Life Lessons for a Cleveland Fan
Memoir by Stan Klein
growing up in a city with a marginally competitive baseball team prepares one for life.
finances are always a problem, a constant lack of supportive friends, and a lifetime of consistent doubt.
the team can never afford the ideal of standard stars, so they have rosters full of talented problem players or those with curious issues with daily living, along with the majority of eager faces with spotty talent, filled in with aged players hoping to qualify for a pension.
mostly people like the ones you will end up working with in your day-to-day existence.
the experience gives you keys to understanding and eventually finding a humorous acceptance of disappointment.
have your championships, give me more vern fullers, duke simms, and joe charboneaus. no wins just smiles at our own shortcomings.
Stan Klein is an artist, gallery director, and former Little League umpire.