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Final AB

By Paul Kocak

Even with extra innings
The end comes
High inside
Or sweeping curve
It comes.
We all know that stance
Remember his grip
Curled and coiled.
We see the swing
And hear the crack.
The ball sails somewhere
Into the night
Into the silent
Empty stands.
It pierces our heart.
For he is going
Going gone.
Willie Mays, my youth.
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It Ain’t Worth It

by Casey Stengel

The trouble is not
that players have sex
the night before a game.

It’s that they stay out all night
looking for it.

You gotta learn that
if you don’t get it by midnight,
chances are you ain’t gonna get it,
and if you do,
it ain’t worth it.

Many thanks to Jim Koenigsberger (@JimFromBaseball) for this and so many other gems from history.

Illustration: Munsingwear ladies underwear advertisement, 1940.