"The Last Time I Saw Maris"

A salute to Yankee great Roger Maris, posted yesterday on Bardball:

The Last Time I Saw Maris

by Joe Pacheco

The last time I saw Maris
His hair was thin and gray,
He'd only hit just one home run
Since last Memorial Day.

The last time I saw Maris
His record still at risk,
In Babe Ruth’s town they’d brought him down
With bogus asterisk.

He smiled through all the muted cheers
That he had heard for years,
The chorus of ingratitude
Still ringing in his ears.

The last time I saw Maris
Was on Old-Timers Day,
Before the steroid sluggers
Came to batter his fame away.