With the Yankees in town for their first Fenway visit on Friday night, it’s that time of year again: time for mangling the chilly elegance of Japanese lyric verse into clumsy sports jeers. Of course, with the recent addition of Daisuke Matsuzaka and Hideki Okajima to the Olde Towne Team — and the arrival of Kei Igawa in the Bronx, who joins Hideki Matsui on the Bombers’ roster — baseball haiku has been much in vogue of late. But here we resume a spring tradition launched in these pages at the start of the 2005 season. Ganbatte, Matsuzaka-san!
Kei Igawa was
A good pitcher in Japan.
Here? Eh, not so much.
Two former teammates.
Okaji K’s Matsui.
One Hideki cries.
When he broke his wrist,
How did Matsui enjoy
His fine Asian porn?
Alex Rodriguez
Is hitting like gangbusters.
At Fenway, he’ll choke.
Starting rotation
Wrecked by scads of injuries?
Maybe George can pitch.
Headline: LATE HOMER
OFF RIVERA STUNS YANKEES
Let’s have more of those.
Matsuzaka will
Make sure the Yankees know that
Their bid was too low.
Derek Jeter is
A bad shortstop, but he’s a
Fine perfume salesman.
Giambi’s arms are
Enormous. So is his head.
But not his average.
Damon might think that
We won’t boo him anymore.
He should think again.
Schadenfreude is fun.
Except if, like last year, it
Bites you in the ass.
