Steve Hermanos - "These Shrunken Men"

A-Rod in his baggy shirt;
Texeira's face has lost dimension;
Ryan Howard,
The Mini-Me,
Of Ryan Howard;
David Ortiz,
Wearing Subway Jared's old Red Sox pajamas;
Pudge Rodriguez,
Slim Rodrguez;
Former fan-favorite Eric Byrnes is permanently surfing;
Manny Ramirez is lost,
In a nightmare rat's nest of hair extensions;
Jason Giambi is a lithe bench player,
His tattoos saggy, unreadable abstractions;
Roger Clemens was a great pitcher,
And a liar.

The superhero capes,
The pixie dust,
The greenies and magic potions,
The injections and horse pills,
All gone,
For now,
Leaving the pitchers,
Throwing perfect games,
27 up, 27 down,
To shrunken, tired, old-looking hitters,
Has an era
(Save the Vesuvian eruption of '79)
Ever ceased so quickly?

The ballparks have grown.


O, Gigantic Victory!