The Night Before A Baseball Christmas

Hello Friends ... I originally jotted this one night a year ago, and posted it here. At my wife's urging, I have touched it up, and am posting it again; with our thanks for the kindness and generosity of the members of this baseball community. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you all.

The Night Before A Baseball Christmas
By: Thomas D. Phillips
With Apologies to: Clement Clarke Moore

'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the park
Not a bullpen was stirring, the clubhouse was dark.
The bat bags were hung in the lockers with care,
In hopes the spring season soon would be here.

Young players were crowded around batting cages,
While parents threw BP, all feeling their ages.
As my Inbox kept filling with news of new camps,
I was writing checks ‘til my hand got a cramp.

Away my mind wandered from thinking of cash
To a brilliant vision that came in a flash.
There was a flood of light on a diamond of green
A more beautiful sight has never been seen.

A bump, surrounded by a plate and three bases
And a grandstand overflowing with young smiling faces
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a mountainous man, and eight of his peers,

With a little pot belly, and a log for a bat,
The Babe was in town, ‘twas no question of that.
Behind him the legends of yesteryear came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;

"Now, Willie! now, Mickey! now, Yogi and Campy!
On, Dimag! on Stargell! on, Pee Wee and Dizzy!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now swing away! swing away! swing away all!"

As memories of the greats swirled round in my head
I thought of my player neatly tucked in his bed.
Might he or a teammate come one day to stand,
In a hall full of legends, as more than a fan.

I could see him learning to hit off of a tee,
And learning to throw to me down on one knee.
As memories washed over my heart and my mind,
I heard the voice of The Babe, speaking ever so kind.

Dressed in gray flannel, just a three on his back,
He hung his Louisville Slugger up on the rack.
With a smile on his face, he said to me “Dad,”
“Just let’m play ball, what’s more fun for a lad?”

His eyes -- how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was a smile, not a sneer,
As he said “let’s go get a dog and a beer.”

Eating a ball park banquet, just me & the King,
In only a dream could one do such a thing.
The Babe said “teach him to hit, to throw, and to run.”
“But most important of all, tell him to have fun.”

“Cheer for them loudly, whether they win or they lose,”
“Tell him ‘son you’re my pride, and son I love you.”
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
I realized then I’d been properly fed.

He spoke not a word, but went back to his work,
Hitting balls over fences; with a quick jerk,
As the light started to fade, he hit one last ball.
Right out of the park, 'twas the longest of all.

Coming back to my senses, to myself I said
I must share this with my friends on HSB Web.
I heard him exclaim, as the day faded to night,
"Happy Christmas to all, and spring training’s in sight."