Casey at the Bat

The outlook wasn't brilliant
for the Mudville Nine that day;
The score stood four to two,
with but one inning more to play,
And then when Cooney died at first,
and Barrows did the same,
A sickly silence fell upon
the patrons of the game.

A straggling few got up
to go in deep despair. The rest
Clung to that hope which springs
eternal in the human breast;
They thought, if only Casey
could get but a whack at that -
We'd put up even money,
now, with Casey at the bat.

But Flynn preceded Casey,
as did also Jimmy Blake,
And the former was a lulu
and the latter was a cake;
So upon that stricken multitude
grim melancholy sat,
For there seemed but little chance
of Casey's getting to the bat.