Triumph of the Willis

by James Finn Garner

It brightens baseball’s heart, Dontrelle,
To have you back and pitching well.

Your fastball cutting like a knife,
Endangering the catcher’s life,

Your off-speed floating up and down,
Your hat too big like Charlie Brown’s.

Your rookie year is long behind–
Was that the thing that messed your mind?

We all get old, last time I checked.
That doesn’t mean your life is wrecked.

You’ve got the stuff, now find the guile,
And you’ll be here a good long while.

.

Posted 5/20/2009

0 Replies to “Triumph of the Willis”

  1. JUST like Charlie Brown’s! You’ve hammered each nail/line solidly. His early fame likely DID mess him up a bit. He DOES have the stuff. And he IS likely to be around a while – I suspect you hope it will be in a Detroit uniform.

    A very enjoyable piece! Even to a guy who hasn’t paid much attention to the Junior Circuit until this year.

    (I’d never realized before how much Magglio looks like Lucy.)

  2. Don’t you remember when Maggs was on the assembly line at the chocolates factory? And the line went so fast that he had to start breaking the machinery with his bat? Hilarious.

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