Base-Ball Ballads/The Annual Return
THE ANNUAL RETURN.
One by one they're drifting back—Hank McGee to Hackensack;Pat Maguire, the world-famed "spitter;"Mike the Bite, "three-hundred" hitter;Jim and Ed and Bill and Jack.One by one they're drifting back,With their curves, their keen intrigue,To the swift Grass Cutter's League.
One by one they leave and goBack again to Kokomo,Kankakee and Rural DellWhere they cast a mystic spellOn the "scouts" who touted them,Each a "human diadem,"In a serried line returnWith their "curves and speed to burn."
One by one they fade awayTo the fragrant, uncut hay."Second Wagners," "second Cobbs"Back upon their old-time jobsIn the Fried Ham Circuit whereThey were stars, with some to spare;Were they played with famed eclat*In the field and at the bat.
One by one they file back homeTo the sweet scent of the loam;Yet but one brief month agoThey were "making Walsh look slow"—Each, the phenom of the age,Flashed upon the sporting ageAs the "greatest of them all"When it came to playing ball.
Pounding on the beaten track—Hank McGee to Hackensack,Pat Maguire to Kankakee,Mike to "Sunny Tennessee"—In a serried line return,With their "curves and speed to burn,"Batting eyes and keen intrigue,To the swift Grass Cutter's League.