Farmer Fred Talks Baseball
One afternoon as I walked by,
Saw Fred staring at the sky.
I stopped and shouted out a “Hi!”
Fred gave me a wave and beckoned me nigh.
I had no place I had to be.
So, I wondered over for to see,
What it was Fred wanted of me.
Would you like a beer?
I have a few on ice right here.
So, we sat beneath a maple tree
And this is what Fred shared with me.
“I’ve been cogitating on some numbers.
Ruth hit 60 back in 27
Took till 61 for Maris to hit 61
Ford Frick gave it the asterisk
Because baseball went from 154 to 162
Games that is, and it took Maris all 162
The record to break
Now it held up till 98
When Sosa and McGwire hit 66 and 70
In 99 they hit 63 and 65 respectively
All of this was undone in 01
When Bonds hit 73
All these homeruns seemed an anomaly
Then Conseco spilled the truth
All these guys were on the juice
In plain and simple terms
To break the records, they defeated
Each of them had actually cheated
Numbers often tell a story
When numbers shift in great proportion
There is always an explanation for the distortion.”
Then Fred reached down and grabbed a stick.
Waved it around as if he were performing a trick.
Next, he started writing on the ground,
When he was done, I looked down and found:
52.6 53.3 50.2 55.2 49.0 51.2 56.7 58.2 54.9 55.7 66.8
80 84 88 92 96 00 04 08 12 16 20
Now what is this I inquired of Fred?
This is what Fred said.
I first voted in 1980
So, each year’s voter turnout I have listed.
See in 2020 the numbers shift in great proportion
And I can only think of one explanation for the distortion.
Copyright © Kenneth Cheney | Year Posted 2022
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