“The Baseball Card Song,” by The Baseball Project
Posted: August 10, 2018 Filed under: Pop culture | Tags: Baseball, baseball cards, music, sports, The Baseball Project 2 CommentsHere’s another great song by The Baseball Project. I owned a few baseball cards as a kid, but not enough to really call it a collection — my parents would have viewed such a compilation as superfluous and wasteful. As an adult, I’m glad this was the case as the cards would probably have just been boxed away or thrown away when I left for school, but I can certainly appreciate the idea of a card collection.
Talking bat
Posted: August 6, 2018 Filed under: Pop culture | Tags: Baseball, comics, humor, quotes, sports, Steve Moore, Theodore Roosevelt Leave a commentSpeak softly and carry a big stick. ~Theodore Roosevelt
“Shakespearean Baseball Sonnet #33,” by Michael Ceraolo
Posted: August 2, 2018 Filed under: Pop culture | Tags: Baseball, Michael Ceraolo, poetry, sonnet, sports Leave a commentHere is another “Shakespearean Baseball Sonnet” from Michael Ceraolo, recently published in First Literary Review. It highlights the natural scenic beauty that comes with baseball, which is certainly one of my favorite parts of the game.
*
Full many a glorious morning have I seen
Flatter the uncovered seats with sov’reign eye,
Kissing with golden face the outfield’s green,
Shining its beams down from our city’s sky.
But other times the bases clouds to race
Over the ballpark’s unseen pre-game face,
And under the tarp hide all the bases,
Waiting for the storm’s move to other places.
And then when again the sun did shine bright
With only the finest natural light,
The clouds had moved on to another clime
And the game’s splendor would begin on time.
The groundskeepers’ work we do not disdain;
They have saveth today’s game from the rain.
Early baseball poem
Posted: July 28, 2018 Filed under: 19th Century, Pop culture | Tags: Baseball, National Daily Baseball Gazette, poetry, sports 2 CommentsThis piece was published in the short-lived National Daily Baseball Gazette on April 20, 1887, and it is believed to be among the first-ever poems inspired by the game of baseball. I wasn’t able to find a title nor an author for the piece, but it is interesting to read, including the note about butterfingers.
*
Then dress, then dress, brave gallants all,
Don uniforms amain;
Remember fame and honor call
Us to the field again.
No shrewish tears shall fill our eye
When the ball club’s in our hand,
If we do lose we wil not sigh,
Nor plead a butter* hand.
Let piping swain and craven jay
Thus weep and puling cry,
Our business is like men to play,
Or know the reason why.
*Hence the term “butter-fingers,” which, twenty years ago, was applied to a man or a boy who didn’t hold a ball.
A thinking man’s game
Posted: July 26, 2018 Filed under: Pop culture | Tags: Baseball, Bill Watterson, Calvin & Hobbes, comics, humor, sports 2 CommentsJust imagine how long nine innings of baseball would last if they started making up rules the way Calvin and Hobbes make up rules.
Bill Watterson
Cooties
Posted: July 11, 2018 Filed under: Pop culture | Tags: Baby Blues, Baseball, comics, humor, Jerry Scott, Rick Kirkman, sports 6 CommentsFor whatever it’s worth, I’m sure the feeling was mutual on the girls’ side.
Baby Blues (Rick Kirkman & Jerry Scott)
“Three Strikes And You’re Out,” Cowboy Copas
Posted: July 7, 2018 Filed under: Pop culture | Tags: Baseball, Cowboy Copas, music, sports Leave a commentThis might be the first song I’ve heard where baseball is used as a metaphor for infidelity. The song is very country and also very … well, “bouncy” isn’t quite the word I’m looking for here, but it’s close.
