Kasey At The Bat : A Communist Fable by Robert L. Harrison

Mighty Casey, did he play ever play in the Soviet Union or did they they have their "own" Mighty Kasey? Enjoy for a moment this wonderfully written paradoy — Kasey At The Bat : A Communist Fable by Robert L. Harrison.

"They thought if only comrade Kasey could get a whack at that, We'd bet every ruble now with Kasey at the bat." - Robert L. Harrison in Kasey At The Bat : A Communist Fable (2004)
Kasey At The Bat
(A Communist Fable)

by Robert L. Harrison (2004) ©

Published On: Baseball Almanac (2004)

The game was going badly for the Moscow Nine
   That day,
For Gorky Park had no lights and darkness was on
   Its way.
While the sun was setting only Kasey was left
   To bat,
A former little leaguer from a Georgia team
   At that.

A Cossack got fed up and soon
   He disappeared,
The rest clung to their commie hopes for losing was what
   They feared,
They thought if only comrade Kasey could get a whack
   At that,
We'd bet every ruble now with Kasey at
   The bat.

And by the old Russian Gods was that Popovich
   On third,
A speck of a human shadow who was faster than
   A bird.
So while Kasey missed a bunt, in came
   flying "Pop",
Who was tagged out as poor Kasey took
   A flop.

Now the reds were quiet in this adventure
   Towards eve,
Until Ivan, a party member shouted
   "We gotta believe."
Then that peasant Kasey took another swing
   And missed,
Causing every commissar to scream
   "You son of a vitch."

Then from the Cuban advisors there rose up a
   Spanish curse,
That caused the K.G.B. agents to make a
   Body search.
Which embarrassed every player, so they covered up
   Their ears,
For they and the might Kasey only
   Wanted cheers.

There was ease in Kasey's manner as he showed his
   Yellow teeth,
Even his manager smiled while surrounded by the
   Secret police.
But the vodka was not selling and soon it would
   Be dark,
So that bear of a pitcher unloaded his
   Next dart.

Now fifteen-thousand matches struck to light up
   That stadium,
As the umpire from Chernobyl lit up with
   Some radium.
So now this baseball drama unfolded in the good
   Old U.S.S.R,
And "playball" they did on land that once belonged to
   The Czar.

Now future visions of his own dacha dangled in
   Kasey's head,
Helloooooooooooo to glasnost thought this
   Friendly red.
Then Kasey prayed for his wood to meet
   It's mate,
For life for him forever would be a piece
   Of cake.

Now in the dusk, the wind did stir and electrify
   The air,
And in the sky, the Cossack caps were flying without
   A care.
For contact was made with Kasey's bat, a sphere flew up into
   The night,
And a roar came from the bleacher seats, to the Moscow
   Nines delight.

But where the hell was Kasey? On the bases
   He disappeared,
Even the Cuban advisors stopped looking and had
   A beer.
Then Radio Free Moscow quit transmitting
   The game,
So patrons in the Red Square would soon forget
   His name.

Oh, somewhere icons are tearing and refusenicks
   Picket on,
And soldiers fight for the party, not knowing they
   Were conned.
But what about poor Kasey, why did he never score
   At all?
The next day by second base they found him, he was hit by his
   Own ball.

Now somewhere in Siberia, where the snow is wet
   And wild,
Where the timber wolf howls at the moon, and children
   Never smile.
Somewhere in that frozen place, before the
   Bering Sea,
You'll find the mighty Kasey, playing on a
   Gulag team.

Kasey at the Bat: A Communist Fable by Robert L. Harrison ©



The original Casey at the Bat was written by Ernest Thayer who commented in 1940 (five years before his death), "The poem has absolutely no basis in fact. The verses owe their existence to my enthusiasm for college baseball. In my brief connection with the Examiner, I put out large quantities of nonsense, both prose and verse. In general quality Casey is neither better nor worse than much of the other stuff. Its persistent vogue is simply unaccountable and it would be hard to say if it has given me more pleasure than annoyance."

Casey At The Bat

Image courtesy of U.S. Postal Service

On July 11, 1996, the United States Postal Service released a 32¢ stamp (pictured above) entitled "Mighty Casey" as part of a block of four stamps saluting American Folk Heroes: Pecos Bill, Paul Bunyan, Mighty Casey and John Henry.

Did you know that a life-size bronze statue of the Mighty Casey — the protagonist in Thayer's original poem (that inspired this poem) — is at the National Baseball Hall of Fame?