Misappropriation of the Classics, Part II: Horatius Reawakened

On December 11 of last year, Caseyatthe.blog called out the misleading and "pernicious misappropriation" of an ancient Roman legend by right-wing propagandist Steve Bannon, who at that time was exh...

Casey Stops by the Ball Park on a Snowy Evening

“One of the hardest things in life to accept is a called third strike.”  -- Robert Frost (1874-1963)   Whose field this was I used to know But that was many years ago-- No one will see me stopping...

Misappropriation of the Classics: "Horatius" Reclaimed

  Since its inception in 2018, Caseyatthe.blog has tried --and mostly succeeded--to steer clear of the reefs and shoals of political discourse. (One notable exception--"Mueller at the Bar" on Octob...

Donald Hall on "Casey at the Bat:" A Ballad of the Republic

  Educator, critic, and fourteenth United States poet laureate (2006-2007), Donald Hall (September 20, 1928 – June 23, 2018) penned an Afterword to the centennial edition of "Casey" [1] that best i...

The Love Song of E. "Phineas" Thayer

The Love Song of E. "Phineas" Thayer, was awarded Honorable Mention in the Print/Online Article category of the 89th Annual Writer's Digest Writing Competition. The fully illustrated version of thi...

"Casey's" First Draft: Song of a Captain Bold

In his final 1887 ballad for the San Francisco Examiner, Ernest Thayer  abandoned his variations on the absurd complexities of the love triangles which had been his constant theme since Sep...

No Joy in Endsville: "Cool" Casey at the Bat

Caseyatthe.blog has forever like, dug "'Cool' Casey at the Bat"-- artist Don Martin's unique contribution to the still-growing canon of literature inspired by Ernest Thayer's "Casey at the Bat." N...

Vive la France! Et Vive "Casey au bâton"

It's July 14, known as "Bastille Day" in the English-speaking world, but in France it's the day of the Fête nationale ("National Celebration"), le 14 juillet . In honor of France's grand celebratio...

"There is a boom in baseball too"--The Ballad of Ambrose Bierce

Two weeks after taking over the San Francisco Examiner in 1887, William Randolph Hearst sought out Ambrose Bierce to join the Examiner staff as chief editorial writer. Bierce later wrote a column e...