Play Ball!

[flyguy69]

Perhaps it is because I have just finished a season coaching first base, but recklesschild's signals pulled me in like a slider on the outside corner of the plate. And it got me thinking about the summer ritual of baseball.

Have you got a baseball poem? In honor of the game, of men in tight pants, of Jenny Finch, of Morgana, of Shoeless Joe or the Big Unit? From T-Ball to Cooperstown, I wanna read 'em.

 

[flyguy69]

Growth Spurt

::::::

 

[clutching_calliope]

Pistol

.....

 

[Angeline]

As a matter of fact, I do

I have an everything poem.

Girls' Night Out
(A true story by me)

Hamilton Little League says NO GIRLS.
(No softball for ladies. Go home. Wear pearls.)

So we snuck out late one Saturday night
to the landscaped field with the new spotlight.

I got my glove. Got on my bike.
Rode past the playground at 12th and Grand,
bikes hid in bushes behind the stand.

Shhhh! Quiet! Lock the Schwinn.

Over the fence and then we're in.
Two teams worth of buzzin' girls
wanting in on boy's game world.

Hitting, sliding, stealing bases.
Sweating, cursing up your faces!
Not foul, not foul! It was a ball.
Take it over. Take one more hit.

They pit me against their best.
Miss Judy Klein, their big star pitcher

You think I'm scared?
I'm a switch hitter!
I hope I scare them half to death.

Judy's nervous.
She takes a breath,
throws fast and high.

I let it go.
That ball is fly!

I'll let old braces Judy sweat
throw me one more, see what I get.

Ball two and it's a mile out.
I want to hit. I start to pout.

I've a wicked arm and Judy knows it.
She winds it up, then blinks and throws it.

O Perfect arc!

The sureness rises from my toes.
I look at Judy, see she knows.

It feels slo-mo.
Judy looks back
then

Swing
Contact
Crack

Wooooooooooooooo!
It's gone; that ball is soaring.

I'm running hard. Home run!

I'm scoring!

Round the bases just past first
and then the very very worst.

Crash

Tinkle rings aloud,
crowding silence out of night.

The clubhouse window!
Girls freeze in fright

Until the oldest moves
and breathes :

C'mon!

On the bikes.
Racing fast.
In the yard. Up the tree.
Through window in safety's flight

Sweet dreams sweet little girls.
Goodnight.

 

[flyguy69]

I have an everything poem.
....

I fully expected you to have one! You've probably got right-handed, southpaw, switch-hitting, middle-relief, pinch-running and mascot poems for any situation!

Alright, Angeline: it's the bottom of the ninth and you're down by two with one out. You've got a man on second and your top closer comes up to bat. You need the runs more than the pitching. What poem do you send in?

 

[flyguy69]

...Sweet dreams sweet little girls.
Goodnight.

Oh, and how did you explain the slide-rash on your hip?

 

[Angeline]

I fully expected you to have one! You've probably got right-handed, southpaw, switch-hitting, middle-relief, pinch-running and mascot poems for any situation!

Alright, Angeline: it's the bottom of the ninth and you're down by two with one out. You've got a man on second and your top closer comes up to bat. You need the runs more than the pitching. What poem do you send in?

There's only one, baby:

Lester leaps in.
Blues shiver your spine,
jump start your skin
when Lester leaps

in, and rhythm bumps
into the softest aches.
You sloop and slur
along harmonic lines,
a sweet train ride
to the bleeding heart
of darkness.

He calls. You respond,
say the moon looks lonesome
shinin' through the trees.
This is where strange fruit
sways your imagination
like ghosts frighten and compel,
till baby you cry what's on
your worried mind

because Lester leaped
in round hollow tones,
wrapped you up neat
in the tears of each note
mirrored in the faded passion
of his jaded eyes.

Lester swings you
into the promised land.
It's full of smoke
and longing, the clink
of ice. Voices rise and fall
behind the soft brush
of a high hat when Lester

leaps in tall, languid,
stoop-shouldered,
and intently horizontal
saxing blues, blues,
blues.

He blows like Gabriel and it's a grand slam.

 

[Liar]

Hit a ball
with a stick,
run around
a square.

Sorry guys,
what I know
'bout baseball
ends right there.

 

[BooMerengue]

I don't have a poem, but I have a passion. My daughter played softball and or Little league baseball every year from 1981 til 1998 and then started back in 2002 and is still the best on the team. Her little boys, my Gods of Love y'all frequently hear me speak of are 6 and 7 and have already been playing for 3 years and are already All Stars. Their games (and hers before them ) are the highlight of my life. Heart stopping. Bladder emptying. Mind screaming. The thought of missing a game to me is akin to an astronaut missing his flight. It just doesn't happen.

I will try to write something but I will await the offerings here w/ great joy!

Thank you, Fly- great idea!

 

[flyguy69]

Play at the Plate

A breathtaking arc: two teams inhale
as one as
ball and sprinter trajectories
intersect. The slow, silent zenith
over second,
around third, then
the gathering speed as
gravity takes hold and thighs churn
for home. A white hot streak
from center, a gray blur trailing dust.
Hands go up and hands go down as
a ball skids into a glove
and SMACK in a shroud of dirt.

A hush settles like dust as a hundred eyes leap
to one man.

 

[flyguy69]

Hit a ball
with a stick,
run around
a square.

Sorry guys,
what I know
'bout baseball
ends right there.

What's to know? Spit
chew, slap
butt, scratch
balls, kick
dirt, eat
dogs, drink
beer.

And stay off the high ones.

 

[Lauren Hynde]

Hit a ball
with a stick,
run around
a square.

Sorry guys,
what I know
'bout baseball
ends right there.

And if there ever was a wrong month (every 4 years) to learn about it, this is it.

 

[flyguy69]

And if there ever was a wrong month (every 4 years) to learn about it, this is it.

Alright, the real sports question: Christiano http://www.ceca-raznatovic.com/Cristiano-Ronaldo/Cristiano-Ronaldo/chronaldo.jpg
or Brian? http://www.tribuneindia.com/2002/20020606/sp6.jpg

 

[BooMerengue]

And if there ever was a wrong month (every 4 years) to learn about it, this is it.

No, no, Darling! This is when you learn!! Just watch and listen to the crowd. You'll find it all out. The rules are usually pretty simple- hit the ball and get around those bases any way you can... or watch the batter and grab the ball before it hits the ground.

The game last night was blood curdling- we were tied at 13-13- this is the team that lost to us twice already and so accused us of cheating- the parents couldn't breathe - the kids acted as if they were on speed (the good kind) Holly and Tristan and Bryan had already gotten 2 home runs each and were in rare form. Bases loaded, we were at bat, bottom of our batting line up (the less than terriffic hitters) the other team and their parents in the dugout muttering nasties, 2 outs, and Jeremy got up, got a strike, spit on his hands, and then hit one to the fence!

Saying we went nuts is putting it mildly. The bleachers almost tipped over, all the babies were scared out of their wits, as we ROARED!!! Screaming RUN!! RUN!! GO BABY!! THATS THE BALL GAME!! and a zillion Oh My Gods!!! And a whole lot of back slapping yelling "That's my kid!!" as they slid into home one by one! Ohhh, mannnn.........

Unless you've been there, you just can't know!!

And these players are 5, 6 and 7! Can it get any better?? I don't think so!

 

[Lauren Hynde]

No, no, Darling! This is when you learn!! Just watch and listen to the crowd. You'll find it all out.

Er... Boo, I am watching and listening to the crowd. That's why this month is the worst time to learn about baseball. The whole world is looking the other way. Last night's game was great indeed: Spain was down until the 60th, but then scored 3 times to beat Tunisia. That second goal was nothing short of spectacular.

And what Fly said.

 

[BooMerengue]

The 60th? My heart couldn't take 60 innings. I think we're talking about 2 different games, Sweets!








(pssttt... did you see Fly's sig line?!?! ewww... theres not a man, or a woman, on this earth that could do me so well I'd do that. Not one.)

 

[flyguy69]

Baseball would have more international appeal if players whipped their shirts off every time they scored.

On the other hand, I'm not sure I want to see David Ortiz' bare belly. In fact, I'm quite sure I don't.


(Aww, c'mon, Boo!)

 

[Maria2394]

Baseball would have more international appeal if players whipped their shirts off every time they scored.

On the other hand, I'm not sure I want to see David Ortiz' bare belly. In fact, I'm quite sure I don't.


(Aww, c'mon, Boo!)

aint that the truth!! I watch basebball just to see those magnificent thighs and butts...and ohhh, baby, I just love when a man slides hard into home...




hint, hint

 

[annaswirls]

Alright, the real sports question: Christiano http://www.ceca-raznatovic.com/Cristiano-Ronaldo/Cristiano-Ronaldo/chronaldo.jpg
or Brian? http://www.tribuneindia.com/2002/20020606/sp6.jpg

um can't this be multiple choice?

around the world in 30 days.... hot damn

 

[flyguy69]

aint that the truth!! I watch basebball just to see those magnificent thighs and butts...and ohhh, baby, I just love when a man slides hard into home...




hint, hint

Just be sure to leave the door unlocked. Last time I got a bloody nose.

 

[annaswirls]

pip gets lost
by 2rivers ©

what started as fun
is now not so

it’s funny
how things expand by powers
only mathematicians
and baseball fans understand

packages drift on trucks
like love flies
between dry clouds and humidity

the host here leans forward
feels not a one, single
~pause~
~pause again~
hug or affection

pip gets found

strong lyrics flavor this boy’s soup
he stands in rain and shadow
others notice and tug
his eye lids

there are veins below
maps of his drug
a puppy, a kitty
exit signs usher his will
new and better pip
rubber and vinyl
cool streets
dead end

good bye
pip pip


1-19-04

 

[RhymeFairy]

Hey you ~~!!!!

I was on the way home from work this pm when I heard a new song. Then I come online and see your new thread here ..

The song by Trace Adkins is called Swing ~ I found a sight tellin a bit about it, just loved the song and it's imagery. Here is a blurb from the interview about the song~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Trace Adkins' first single “Swing,” from his upcoming new album Dangerous Man has now hit Canadian radio and is set to sizzle the airwaves all thru the summer and throughout the baseball season! The song will be available to purchase as a digital download and a ring tune beginning May 30, 2006.

“Swing,” cleverly references seasonal baseball terminology, while describing the eternal dance of finding the right soul mate – a guy just giving it his all, putting it all on the line and “swinging for the fences” hoping he doesn’t strike out.

Keeping with the spirit of this baseball theme - Trace has even "teamed" up with Major League Baseball - for more information on this and an exclusive interview with Trace discussing his love of the game go to the official MLB site at: http://www.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/fan_forum/swing/.

Trace will be performing at this years Academy Of Country Music Awards broadcast LIVE from Las Vegas on Tuesday, May 23, 2006 at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT on CBS. He is a previous Academy of Country Music Award winner in the Top New Male Vocalist category.

Link to sight ~

~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am not a big baseball fan, but really like the song.

 

[Decayed Angel]

When Washington had the Senators...

Arrived

Cable ready
for the stats on ESPN
the long lists
winners, losers
averages, earned runs
strikeouts and more
a game in numbers
under the diamond
sparkling trends
and the lucky socks
rally hats, chickens
all tumbled
in long afternoons
and remembering
a doubleheader with dad
Sam McDowell
and the Indians
and a triple-play
against the Senators
when baseball was played
in DC
and winning or losing
was not as important
as being there
in the sun
with dad.

 

[wildsweetone]

No, no, Darling! This is when you learn!! Just watch and listen to the crowd. You'll find it all out. The rules are usually pretty simple- hit the ball and get around those bases any way you can... or watch the batter and grab the ball before it hits the ground.

The game last night was blood curdling- we were tied at 13-13- this is the team that lost to us twice already and so accused us of cheating- the parents couldn't breathe - the kids acted as if they were on speed (the good kind) Holly and Tristan and Bryan had already gotten 2 home runs each and were in rare form. Bases loaded, we were at bat, bottom of our batting line up (the less than terriffic hitters) the other team and their parents in the dugout muttering nasties, 2 outs, and Jeremy got up, got a strike, spit on his hands, and then hit one to the fence!

Saying we went nuts is putting it mildly. The bleachers almost tipped over, all the babies were scared out of their wits, as we ROARED!!! Screaming RUN!! RUN!! GO BABY!! THATS THE BALL GAME!! and a zillion Oh My Gods!!! And a whole lot of back slapping yelling "That's my kid!!" as they slid into home one by one! Ohhh, mannnn.........

Unless you've been there, you just can't know!!

And these players are 5, 6 and 7! Can it get any better?? I don't think so!

Oh good grief! Has anyone told you you should be a Sports Commentator Boo?! You SHOULD! REALLY!

I think I just had nearly as much fun as you did watching the game.

(I am off to watch a field hockey match in a few minutes, I wonder if it will be as exciting as your ball game )

 

[BooMerengue]

(Aww, c'mon, Boo!)

You can bet on this, baby!! NEVER happen- NEVER!!

You'll just have to suck it up! lol