Mordecai’s Ghost

On a warm May eve in 2025, the ghost of Mordecai Brown
Returned to his playing field on the North Side of old Chi-Town.

At Addison he stepped out of a rumbling El train.
And then he mumbled while jangling his rusty chain:

“Mordecai. More to come. One, two, three.”

Leaning on a cane, he tried to get into Wrigley with a dollar in hand.
The ticket taker said, “A buck won’t get you anywhere across this land.”

Brown’s gnarled three fingers reached into a hole in his pockets.
He grumbled about the owner, bottom-line Tom Ricketts:

“Mordecai. More to come. Four, five, six.”

Back in 1916, Wrigley Field was called Weeghman Park;
The final year of his lifetime 2.06 ERA that left a pitching mark.

Today, the Cubs could’ve used his knuckle curve against the Giants;
The boys from SF scored too many runs in extra innings of defiance:

“Mordecai. More to come. Seven, eight, nine.”

Nice Guys Finish First (In the Eyes of God)

The smoke was white.
Like the W flag, it signaled a victory
For Chicagoans.

Some say that Wrigley Field
Is a cathedral for those who
Believe in baseball as their religion.

Older Cubs fans lionized one Leo:
Durocher — manager, gambler, and author of
Nice Guys Finish Last.

Now we celebrate a more spiritual Leo.
The Vatican City’s conclave elected
Robert Francis Prevost as pope.

Residents of St. Louis say he was a Cardinal.
He grew up on Chicago’s South Side,
So, maybe he cheers for the White Sox.

He’s the first American leader of the Catholic Church,
So, a wag in the Bronx would be excused for saying,
“Lemme tell ya, Doc, da Pope’s a Yankee!”

But given that he roots for the world’s underdogs,
Pope Leo surely is a Cubs fan whose faith knows that
Nice Guys Finish First.

May the Fours Be With You

Borrowing “May the Force be with you” from George Lucas’ “Star Wars”, this poem was written on May 4, a few days after Eugenio Suárez’s four-home-run game.

Lou Gehrig wore the number 4.
And he batted fourth in the Yankees lineup.
Columbia Lou was the first in baseball’s
Modern Era to hit four home runs in a game.

Star Wars: A slugger in such a zone.

If ever someone deserved four more decades,
It was The Iron Horse, who died too young.
Imagine how many more innings he would’ve played
If ALS hadn’t stopped his consecutive games at 2,130.

Star Wars: A stalwart in such a streak.

On July 4, 1939, in Yankee Stadium,
At the close of Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day,
The Quiet Hero declared himself the
“Luckiest Man on the Face of the Earth.”

Star Wars: A baseball saint in such a state.

Wrigley Windy

To the tune of Ruthann Friedman’s song “Windy,” recorded by The Association.

Who’s blowin’ it outta’ the ballpark,
Enabling homers lighter than air?
Who’s keepin’ hope to give me a comeback?
Everyone knows it’s Wrigley.

Who’s trippin’ up the Arizona D’backs,
Smilin’ at every slugger she sees?
Who’s combinin’ the most runs in an inning?
Everyone knows it’s Wrigley.

And Wrigley has stormy eyes
That result in a pitcher’s demise.
And Wrigley has homers to fly.
Above the clouds . . .
A windy win for the Cubs.
Above the clouds  . . .
A windy win for the Cubs.

Glove of Dreams

On sandlots every Spring, Summer and Fall,
It caught many a ball.

I still love
My Bobby Murcer Glove.

Though my bats are in heaven above,
I still have that childhood glove.

Had I known of Shigeaki Aso,
My glove of dreams could have taken me pro.

Aso is Wilson’s “Ball Glove Master Craftsman;”
With his tender care, my mitt might still see the sun.

Instead, that old slab of leather
Waits for its season of dreamy weather.

When my granddaughters play softball,
My glove will be there, Spring, Summer and Fall.

O

Like a shintO gOOse egg,
The letter “O” is perfect.

rOOkies Of the Year,
Include a Japanese “O” sect:

1995: nOmO.
2000: kazuhirO.
2001: ichirO.
2018: shOhei.

frOm nippOn’s baseball pantheOn,
There’s One “O”

whO shOuld be in cOOperstOwn:
Sadaharu Oh.

A Suffering Cubs Fan’s Wabi-Sabi

Japanese concept
Of wabi-sabi captures
Cubs austerity

Spring Training’s Desert Hopes

All the teams are
Tied for first,
And might just win 2025’s World Series.

Hope blooms in
The Cactus League.

Rookies and vets
Have a thirst,
A spot on the team means no unemployment wearies.

Hope blooms in
The Cactus League.

Legends like Fergie Jenkins
Make Sloan Park burst,
Cheering on my novel’s baseball queries.

Hope blooms in
The Cactus League.

Gem : No-Hitter :: Prize : Nobel

Pitchers threw No-Nos:
Blanco, Cease, Snell, Cubs-combo.
Han Kang won Nobel.

Baseball Parity, Chicago Parody

Had the Dodgers
Lost just one more game,
This sub-600 season woulda been lame.

The winning percentage
Of most every other team,
Was surely a parity-lover’s dream.

Leaving aside the Angels, Marlins, Rockies,
And the historically bad White Sox,
All the other ballclubs had their shots.

Within sniffing distance of the wild card,
A couple of wins here and there
Woulda given your team a playoff share.

If the Mets and Tigers coulda
Advanced to the second round,
My Cubbies, too, shoulda stuck around.

Yeah, there may be MLB pair-a-tee,
But as Steve Goodman’s Dying Cubs Fans know
They still play the blues in Chi-ca-go.