The Night Before Winter Meetings

With winter meetings set to begin on Monday morning, I thought it was time to dust off my book of poetry and pull out everyone’s favorite holiday classic, The Night Before Winter. This classic tale of the winter meetings was written in 1876 and was first published for the Montgomery Wards Christmas catalog. Never gaining much popularity until baseball and, thus, winter meetings were invented several years later, the poem has been translated into 82 different languages, including Klingon and Closing Pitcher, and been published by only the finest periodicals and websites. In 2015, The Night Before Winter will be released as a full length motion picture directed by Ron Howard and staring a computer generated Ted Williams bobblehead doll.

Without further ado, join us in our celebration of the winter meetings and read this poem near a roaring fire with your kids in tow. Enjoy.

The Night Before Winter

Anthony W. Frye, Jr (1850-1973)
To My Dearest Doo

‘Twas the night before meetings
And all through the land
There was much trepidation
About Billy’s plan

Is Moss on the market
Will Shark hit the road
Is the team just retooling
Or in rebuild mode

Would men be acquired
Or traded for prospects
Would the season be winning
Or nothing but train wrecks

With Billy in SoCal
And Melvin in tow
The winds of a rumor
Were starting to blow

Could we land a shortstop
Of hall of fame status
Or would we still wallow
Beneath our grand stratus

Is Cespy returning
Perhaps Jonny Gomes
Will Beane call on Barton
And bring him back home

With so much in question
There arose quite a clatter
So I logged on to this site
To see what was the matter

‘Twas there that I read
Of all winter meetings
And followed the hot stove
And all of its heating…s

If Troy Tulowitzki
Is traded to Oakland
Then join us right here
It’s time to get stoked, man

Considering the age of this poem, it’s striking the prophetic nature of the texts. I mean, geez, the writer knew about websites and power hitting shortstops.

I hope you enjoyed this little bit of winter meetings nostalgia and will include it in your yearly holiday traditions. Happy Winter Meetings to all and to all a good night.