[Fredslist] Re A Baseball Poem

Tue Apr 1 18:34:16 EDT 2008

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One of the things I  absolutely love about my apartment on the 24th floor on 
the East Side is  that the lights at Yankee Stadium shine bright in my living 
room.   And there they are tonight for the first time in a while.   It  
reminded my of that famous poem Casey at the Bat.  So here it is...a  moment of silen
ce............and than PLAY BALL!  

"Love has its sonnets galore. War has its  epics in heroic verse. Tragedy its 
sombre story in measured  lines. Baseball has Casey at the Bat." - Albert  
Spalding
      Casey at  the Bat  
by Ernest Lawrence Thayer ©   
Published: The  Examiner (06-03-1888)   
The  Outlook wasn't brilliant for the Mudville nine that  day:
The score stood four to two, with but one inning more  to play.
And then when Cooney died at first, and Barrows  did the same,
A sickly silence fell upon the patrons of the  game. 
A  straggling few got up to go in deep despair. The rest
Clung  to that hope which springs eternal in the human  breast;
They thought, if only Casey could get but a whack  at that -
We'd put up even money, now, with Casey at the  bat. 
But Flynn  preceded Casey, as did also Jimmy Blake,
And the former was  a lulu and the latter was a cake;
So upon that stricken  multitude grim melancholy sat,
For there seemed but little  chance of Casey's getting to the bat. 
But Flynn  let drive a single, to the wonderment of all,
And Blake,  the much despis-ed, tore the cover off the ball;
And when  the dust had lifted, and the men saw what had  occurred,
There was Jimmy safe at second and Flynn  a-hugging third. 
Then from  5,000 throats and more there rose a lusty yell;
It rumbled  through the valley, it rattled in the dell;
It knocked upon  the mountain and recoiled upon the flat,
For Casey, mighty  Casey, was advancing to the bat. 
There was  ease in Casey's manner as he stepped into his place;
There  was pride in Casey's bearing and a smile on Casey's  face.
And when, responding to the cheers, he lightly doffed  his hat,
No stranger in the crowd could doubt 'twas Casey  at the bat. 
Ten  thousand eyes were on him as he rubbed his hands with  dirt;
Five thousand tongues applauded when he wiped them on  his shirt.
Then while the writhing pitcher ground the ball  into his hip,
Defiance gleamed in Casey's eye, a sneer  curled Casey's lip. 
And now  the leather-covered sphere came hurtling through the  air,
And Casey stood a-watching it in haughty grandeur  there.
Close by the sturdy batsman the ball unheeded  sped-
"That ain't my style," said Casey. "Strike one," the  umpire said. 
>From the  benches, black with people, there went up a muffled  roar,
Like the beating of the storm-waves on a stern and  distant shore.
"Kill him! Kill the umpire!" shouted someone  on the stand;
And its likely they'd a-killed him had not  Casey raised his hand. 
With a  smile of Christian charity great Casey's visage shone;
He  stilled the rising tumult; he bade the game go on;
He  signaled to the pitcher, and once more the spheroid  flew;
But Casey still ignored it, and the umpire said,  "Strike two." 
"Fraud!"  cried the maddened thousands, and echo answered fraud;
But  one scornful look from Casey and the audience was  awed.
They saw his face grow stern and cold, they saw his  muscles strain,
And they knew that Casey wouldn't let that  ball go by again. 
The sneer  is gone from Casey's lip, his teeth are clenched in  hate;
He pounds with cruel violence his bat upon the  plate.
And now the pitcher holds the ball, and now he lets  it go,
And now the air is shattered by the force of Casey's  blow. 
Oh,  somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining  bright;
The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts  are light,
And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere  children shout;
But there is no joy in Mudville - mighty  Casey has struck out. 
"Phin"   
Casey at the Bat  by Ernest Lawrence Thayer ©

The "audio moment" below is the actual voice of De  Wolf Hopper and you will 
hear some slight variations in  his delivery. 
 (http://www.baseball-almanac.com/audio/casey.ram)  
Click the  Radio to De Wolf Hopper Perform Casey at the  Bat 
When William De Wolf Hopper performed the poem at  Wallack's Theatre, on 
Broadway and 30th Street in New  York City, players from the New York Giants and 
Chicago  White Stockings were guests in the auditorium. 
Ernest Lawrence Thayer actually wrote three versions  of Casey at the Bat — 
the first printing, a  self-corrupted version, and the revised  version.

Janet 
Janet Adler Realty, Ltd.
212 427 3809

**************Create a Home Theater Like the Pros. Watch the video on AOL 
Home.      
(http://home.aol.com/diy/home-improvement-eric-stromer?video=15&ncid=aolhom00030000000001)
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