Base-Ball Ballads/Curfewed

by Grantland Rice

 

CURFEWED.

Fringed by clouds, the sun was setting
 O'er the hills so far away,
Filling all the land with beauty
 At the close of yesterday.
And the straggling rays, descending,
 Fell upon all fandom there—
Fans with aching, anguished bosoms,
 Fans bowed down in bleak despair.

"Jimmy," said a little newsboy
 To a ragged pal near by,
Who sat frowning at the score board
 With a teardrop in his eye,
"We ain't got a chance to make it;"
 And his face was set and white.
"Orth has got us on the hog train—
Cleveland can't win out to-night."

Every fan from box to bleachers
 Sat in silence, sick and sore,
As each inning sped by swiftly
 And the Naplets failed to score;
For New York had pounded Otto
 Steadily from left to right,
So it looked like easy money
 Cleveland wouldn't win that night.

In the meanwhile Orth was puzzling
 Every batter on our team;
So the chance to land a victory
 Seemed an empty, idle dream.
Nothing doing in the seventh,
 Till at last above the crowd
New York's brace of luscious tallies
 Hovered like a midnight cloud.

Sitting on his bench, Clark Griffith
 Softly murmured: "Twenty-three,
Skidoo, Larry, to the shadows
 Of the Ancient Apple Tree."
Mr. Orth was smiling blandly,
 With the finish just in sight,
Thinking as he shot one over:
 "Cleveland's out of it to-night."

Two more rounds to make a rally,
 Two more rounds to turn the trick!
Can you wonder for a minute
 Why the cranks were feeling sick?
Not an echo from the grandstand,
 There was dearth of whoops and cheers,
With the ghastly silence broken
 Only by the splashing tears.

"Batter up," said Umpire Connor.
 Larry strode up to the plate
With a bludgeon in his talons,
 While his teeth were clenched in hate.
Bing! Was that another earthquake,
 Or a cyclone in the air?
For the mighty shout that followed
 Must have rumbled through the Square.

Rossman followed and the tumult
 Grew into a maddened shout.
Bing! The racket grew terrific;
 Two on base and no one out.
Jackson next! And hopes long buried
 Rose anew upon the wing.
"Soak her, Jimmy!" shrieked the rooters;
 And the echo answered: "Bing!"

Bradley forced, but Bemis singled;
 One had scored, and every sack
Had a sprinter only waiting
 For another welcome crack.
Tighter, tighter grew the tension
 Stovall went to bat for Hess.
Stovall with his little horseshoe—
 Lucky George? Well, I should guess.

Well, by now you've heard the story
 Of the wild throw Conroy made
When he tagged out Harry Bemis
 And a double play essayed.
Al Orth was a blighted being,
 Griffith's hair turned snowy white;
For, in place of New York winning,
 Cleveland copped the game last night.