Baseball was, is, and always will be to me the best game in the world.

Babe Ruth

It usually one of my favorite days of the year, but today I am lamenting the postponement of Opening Day of Major League Baseball. My slice is an homage to “Casey at the Bat” with one little “borrowed” line.

The outlook isn’t brilliant for the Phllies nine today.
The players had to all stay home; no baseball could they play.
First basketball, then hockey stopped, now baseball’s done the same.
A sickly silence fell upon the lovers of the game.

No Joe Girardi, Bryce, or Rhys, no “Jetpack” Kingery
No cracking bats, no slapping gloves, no baseball game to see.
Citizen’s Bank Park is shuttered and now a testing site
For the nasty coronavirus that’s changing everything in its sight.

Opening Day will have to wait till later on this year.
A few more weeks or maybe months before we get to cheer.
But oh the cheers will be so loud on that terrific day
Cause that’s the day that we will know corona’s gone away.

So missing baseball is just a minor inconvenience in the scope of what is going on in the US and around the world right now, but it is definitely one of my favorite outlets. It always reminds me of when I was young and the Phillies home games were not televised (yes I know I am old). We would listen to the play-by-play on the radio and cheer as if we were at Connie Mack Stadium or early on at Veterans’ Stadium. Those were idyllic days.

I long for those days even more as we make our way through these uncharted waters, but I am hopeful that it won’ be long before I am hearing those two simple words – “Play ball.”

Stay well.