April Is The Cruelest Month / At The Oooold Baaaall Gaaaaaame!

April 1, 2016 12:00 PM

Poems to Celebrate the National Pastime. Opening Day for Major League Baseball's 2016 season is just around the corner, and today begins National Poetry Month. Celebrate both with a selection of fine baseball verse from the Editors at poetry.org.

Want more poetry exploring baseball? Check out the Poetry page at baseball-almanac.com. And don't forget that the fine art of baseball doggerel is currently being revived at bardball.com.

(previously)

posted by magstheaxe (16 comments total)

The Pitcher by Robert Francis

His art is eccentricity, his aim
How not to hit the mark he seems to aim at,
His passion how to avoid the obvious,
His technique how to vary the avoidance.
The others throw to be comprehended. He
Throws to be a moment misunderstood.
Yet not too much. Not errant, arrant, wild,
But every seeming aberration willed.
Not to, yet still, still to communicate
Making the batter understand too late.
posted by rocket88 at 12:16 PM on April 1, 2016 [4 favorites]

"Moe Berg son of an immigrant - brought his father shame
All that education - then to play a child's game
Moe made it to the Majors - but his dad would never go see him
Moe's baseball card is on display at the CIA museum."

-Chuck Brodsky
posted by thelonius at 12:23 PM on April 1, 2016

There's going to be snow in Boston on Monday. Does that mean no games at Fenway that day possibly?
posted by Talez at 12:28 PM on April 1, 2016

Needs more of Charles North's "Lineup" poems.

The city lineup is perhaps my favorite:

San Francisco, ss
Munich, cf
Paris, lf
Rome, c
Madrid, 3b
London, rf
Athens, 1b
Istanbul, 2b
New York, p
posted by dersins at 12:33 PM on April 1, 2016 [2 favorites]

Huh, I just posted Patchen’s The Origin of Baseball in the metatalk poetry thread. Baseball weather, I guess. I am now feeling like I should have put something there from O Holy Cow: The Selected Verse of Phil Rizzuto, an amazing book I’m happy to see is back in print. Here’s the first, an opening-day poem:

Field of Butterflies

Absolutely!
If you don’t get a little,
A few butterflies,
No matter what you do,
On the first day of anything,
You’re not human.

April 12, 1991
New York at Kansas City
Storm Davis pitching to Steve Sax
First inning, no outs, bases empty
(First batter, opening day)
No score

posted by miles per flower at 12:39 PM on April 1, 2016 [3 favorites]

Best baseball writing, in my book -- the short story, "Smoke" by Michael Chabon, which was collected in A Model World.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 12:40 PM on April 1, 2016

Brooklyn August by Stephen King (yes that Stephen King)

In Ebbets Field the crabgrass grows
(where Alston managed)
row on row
as the day's axle turns into twilight . . .
posted by dannyboybell at 12:41 PM on April 1, 2016

The Red Sox home opener isn't until April 11. Hopefully the snow will be gone by then.
posted by jesourie at 12:41 PM on April 1, 2016

Crack bat! Roar crowd!
Yankees! WNYX.
Team.
posted by The Bellman at 1:01 PM on April 1, 2016

No Baseball's Sad Lexicon?

These are the saddest of possible words:
"Tinker to Evers to Chance."
Trio of bear cubs, and fleeter than birds,
Tinker and Evers and Chance.
Ruthlessly pricking our gonfalon bubble,
Making a Giant hit into a double—
Words that are heavy with nothing but trouble:
"Tinker to Evers to Chance."
posted by JHarris at 1:15 PM on April 1, 2016 [2 favorites]

Not poetry, per se, but its musical equivalent. Meet The Baseball Project performing "Ted Fucking Williams." Other deliciousness for baseball fans is available.
posted by Mental Wimp at 2:08 PM on April 1, 2016

No Baseball's Sad Lexicon?
posted by JHarris at 4:15 PM on April 1

Right there on the baseball-almanac.com poetry page. Just control-f the title. :)
posted by magstheaxe at 3:18 PM on April 1, 2016

JHarris: came to post that, will instead update to:

These are the bestest of possible words:
Russel to Heyward to Rizz(o)
posted by eriko at 3:35 PM on April 1, 2016 [1 favorite]

Damn stupid exhaustion. Heyward's an outfielder.

Russel to Zobrist to Rizz(o).
posted by eriko at 5:38 PM on April 1, 2016 [1 favorite]

To Satch deserved to be included.
posted by Pallas Athena at 6:31 PM on April 2, 2016 [1 favorite]

To Satch deserved to be included. Yes, it does! I didn't know it, but am so glad I clicked your link, Pallas Athena.

To Satch

Sometimes I feel like I will never stop
Just go on forever
Till one fine morning
I’m gonna reach up and grab me a handfulla stars
Swing out my long lean leg
And whip three hot strikes burnin down the heavens
And look over at God and say
How about that!!!

--Samuel Allen
posted by MonkeyToes at 5:50 AM on April 3, 2016 [2 favorites]