If Shakespeare were still alive today, I would like to think he would be a baseball fan. This piece is a fun read, although it does, unfortunately, remind me of how badly the Royals have been playing lately.
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Thus can my love excuse the weak offense
Of my hometown team, when the pitching’s good.
No matter the batters can’t reach the fence,
And don’t draw as many walks as they should,
Nor do they blaze the base paths with much speed:
Said offense is a catalog of need.
With good pitching you can stay in the game
And let your weak offense try to keep pace;
Close, low-scoring games have a better name,
Though you’re not any higher in the race
Than a team built the opposite of you;
Both have a similar also-ran view.
And by all except the purist’s measure,
Losing is not an aesthetic pleasure.
Great poem! I agree – losing is no fun.
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Beautiful find Precious. I can’t comment on the similarity with Shakespeare, but your Royals intro speaks even more to me.