The Hardball Times -- Ed DeCaria http://www.hardballtimes.com/main Baseball. Insight. Daily. en studes@hardballtimes.com Copyright 2013 2013-05-24T08:08:15+00:00 THT poetry: Repertoire http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/tht-poetry-repertoire/ http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/tht-poetry-repertoire/#When:07:00:15 Repertoire
By Ed DeCaria

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Click here to learn about THT's download subscriptions.]]> Ed DeCaria 2013-04-26T07:00:15+00:00 THT poetry: Wrigley Field in April http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/tht-poetry-wrigley-field-in-april/ http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/tht-poetry-wrigley-field-in-april/#When:06:58:15 hung our flag at half-staff upon Marvin Miller's passing.

Today, we experience what it is like for a die-hard Cubs fan to sit through a game at Wrigley Field at night in April ...

wrigley | april
By Ed DeCaria

a heavy wind
is whirling in
its fingernails play violin
it whips my brow
and sears my skin
i’m beaten
but

the cubbies win


Click here to learn about THT's download subscriptions.]]> Ed DeCaria 2013-04-25T06:58:15+00:00 THT Poetry: Flag At Half-Mast http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/tht-poetry-flag-at-half-mast/ http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/tht-poetry-flag-at-half-mast/#When:09:08:15 M
A
R
V
I
N
~
M
I
L
L
E
R
~
Fail-safe
Reserve clause
Etches infinities on players’
Eyelids, clawing through decades
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And dog days, coring baseball’s living bones,
Gutting what goodwill remains, leaving
Enslaved boys no choice but listen:
No one – no team,
no boss, nobody –
Controls
You.
~
H
A
L
L
~
O
F
~
F
A
M
E


Click here to learn about THT's download subscriptions.]]> Ed DeCaria 2012-11-29T09:08:15+00:00 THT Poetry: ICHIRO! Splits http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/blog_article/tht-poetry-ichiro-splits/ http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/blog_article/tht-poetry-ichiro-splits/#When:12:01:15
Click here to learn about THT's download subscriptions.]]> Ed DeCaria 2012-07-30T12:01:15+00:00 THT Poetry: Kerry Wood (1998-2012) http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/tht-poetry-kerry-wood-1998-2012/ http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/tht-poetry-kerry-wood-1998-2012/#When:08:58:15 the prior edition of THT Poetry, we trailed Dee Gordon around the base paths. Today, we reflect on Kerry Wood's up and down career, with scattered references to statistics and to Cubs history/culture. Enjoy ...

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Now, a challenge for you. I self-imposed three major constraints on the structure of this poem, each grounded in Kerry Wood's statistical record. Specifically, the total number of lines, the syllable count of each line, and the relative frequency of two distinct sounds throughout the poem. The first is easy, the second is probably pretty apparent, but the last one may be tough to crack! The first reader to identify (via research or lucky guess) the "statistical significance" of each constraint is invited to suggest/demand a topic for a future baseball poem. It might take me awhile to write 'em, but I will honor your topics if you can crack my poetry code.

Oh, and yes, that squiggle in lines seven and eight is a stripped-down version of FanGraphs' win probability chart for Game Six of the 2003 NLCS. I've embedded the full interactive chart here for your suffering/amusement (hover over for play-by-play details):


Source: FanGraphs


Click here to learn about THT's download subscriptions.]]> Ed DeCaria 2012-07-12T08:58:15+00:00 Welcome to THT Poetry! http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/welcome-to-tht-poetry/ http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/welcome-to-tht-poetry/#When:08:00:15

My name is Ed DeCaria, and I have been granted the privilege of sharing baseball-related poetry with you here at The Hardball Times. Poems will appear in the THT Live section with headers containing the conspicuous prefix "THT Poetry."

If readership here is anything like the broader population, most of you have tuned poetry out of your lives by now. But with baseball as our shared landscape, I'll try to make it relevant for you again.

To me, poetry is a literary Jose Oquendo—it's lean (5-foot-10/160), discerning (career 12 percent/10 percent BB/K rates), and can play anywhere (1988!). And that's good, because I don't know any more than you what I will be writing about week-by-week. Today, we'll tether ourselves to Dee Gordon's feet. Next week, I'll try to recap Kerry Wood's career with some statistically-guided verse. But beyond those (and possibly some sultry prose from the perspective of an R.A. Dickey knuckleball), my lineup card is blank.

What follows is a one-poem introduction to poetry. Marianne Moore wrote this nearly 100 years ago:

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Here are five things that I like about Moore's poem (which is included in this collection available for purchase):


  1. She refers to both baseball and statisticians as "phenomena" not easily understood or admired. Turns out she actually LOVED baseball. As an 81-year-old, she threw out the first pitch at Yankee Stadium on Opening Day 1968 (photo here).

  2. She knocks unintelligible, over-derived poetry for being closed to meaningful interpretation.

  3. She argues that poetry can be useful in the same way that an evolved body part can be useful. I had never thought about poetry being directly "useful" until I read this poem.

  4. She teases readers with this idea of "imaginary gardens with real toads in them," which I find immensely provocative.

  5. She ends, as I begin, with an invitation to discover poetry in all its rawness and genuineness.


With that, welcome to THT Poetry! Should be a lot of fun. Please never hesitate to comment or critique, or suggest a topic.


And now for my debut ... a sudoku haiku:


Triple
by Ed DeCaria


Dee Gordon ignores
gravity / erasers chase
laces around


cleats kick chalk
mid-air / chattering teeth unleash
their sound


dig
second dive third / safely back on ground
.




© 2012 Ed DeCaria, All Rights Reserved





Click here to learn about THT's download subscriptions.]]> Ed DeCaria 2012-06-15T08:00:15+00:00