Wezen-Ball: 1911's "Baseball Ballads" by Larry Granillo

In 1911, the National News Association printed a collection of poems (originally appearing in the New York Evening Journal) in a book called "Right Off the Bat: Baseball Ballads", by William F. Kirk. That book is now available in full for free on Google Books. The 34 poems found in the volume are a fun, quick read. The works range from "The Big League" and "The Ballad of a Minor Leaguer" (stories about the difficulty of surviving the top leagues) to "Yellow" (a story about a cowardly, no-good ballplayer) and "The $11,000 Beauty" (about John McGraw). None of the pieces are all that long, rarely extending to more than two half-pages of the small book (likely in the 30-50 line range, if not shorter). In truth, I get the feeling that most of these poems either originated from a schoolyard or were intended for one. They aren't all that complicated. Not that I'm complaining; it's always nice to come across baseball-themed l...