Author’s Note

I can’t say baseball is my favorite sport. I wouldn’t sit on a couch watching it for hours every Sunday like the NFL. Hell, I’ll watch an Olympic basketball game between Slovenia and Germany, but some years the entire Major League Baseball playoffs will just slip right past me. 

Baseball is, however, my favorite sport to write about. 

A Sharp Line Drive

When I played softball at Sarah Lawrence College I was awesome. Every Friday afternoon for my physical education credits I would show up at Marshall Field and get a lot of hits, score a lot of runs, and snag every fly ball that came my way.

The European Starlings in the World Series

The winner of this year’s World Series was a flock of European Starlings flying with precise coordination across a road near where I live…

They’d never been the champions of Major League Baseball before, ever since 60 of them were introduced in 1890 Central Park by a guy who thought all birds mentioned in Shakespeare deserved to exist in North America. In fact, for 126 years The European Starlings had come in last place.

What Inning Is It?

The Closer, our strongest arm, who holding nothing back for one final inning can blow away our opponent’s hitters, protect our lead, and save the game, is all warmed up in the bullpen. The crowd is on their feet. The other team’s lead off man heads to the batter’s box. But for some reason no one on our team can agree what inning it is.

Sometimes Opening Day Is in July

Sometimes Opening Day is in July
and everyone wants to know why 
but the Gods of Baseball will not say  

sometimes they play to near empty stadiums   
bleacher mannequins and knock-off crowd hums  
locker rooms stocked with Purell drums