Casey at the Bat: A Ballad of the Republic Sung in the Year 1888
1 The outlook wasn’t brilliant for the Mudville nine that day:
2 The score stood four to two, with but one inning more to play,
3 And then when Cooney died at first, and Barrows did the same,
4 A pall-like silence fell upon the patrons of the game.
5 A straggling few got up to go in deep despair.
6 The rest Clung to the hope which springs eternal in the human breast;
7 They thought, “If only Casey could but get a whack at that--
8 We’d put up even money now, with Casey at the bat.”
9 But Flynn preceded Casey, as did also Jimmy Blake,
10 And the former was a hoodoo, while the latter was a cake;
11 So upon that stricken multitude grim melancholy sat,
12 For there seemed but little chance of Casey getting to the bat.
13 But Flynn let drive a single, to the wonderment of all,
14 And Blake, the much despised, tore the cover off the ball;
15 And when the dust had lifted, and men saw what had occurred,
16 There was Jimmy safe at second and Flynn a-hugging third.
17 Then from five thousand throats and more there rose a lusty yell;
18 It rumbled through the valley, it rattled in the dell;
19 It pounded on the mountain and recoiled upon the flat,
20 For Casey, mighty Casey, was advancing to the bat.
(continued)
Comprehension Question: What part of the baseball game is the poem about?
a The starting pitch
b The last inning
c Half-time
d 7th inning stretch
