UNIVERSE 7 BANNERS 5
As the Dublin Laureates wait in the wings to play the winner, the best of 7 series opens in Phoenix, Arizona as the Modern Division winner, Steven Spielberg’s Universe, who knocked off the Madrid Crusaders, takes on the Wild Card Florence Banners of the Glorious Division, who eliminated the Boston Secrets. Martin Luther King, jr gets the win as the Universe prevail, 7-5. Delmore Schwartz, an offensive force for the Universe against the Crusaders in Round One, hit a 3 run homer against Leonardo da Vinci with the Universe trailing 5-4 in the 7th inning. Galway Kinnell and Paul Celan singled with two outs before Delmore’s game winner. Leonardo da Vinci said he “had no idea where the strike zone was” because of the way home plate umpire, Anthony Fauci, called balls and strikes. Fauci tossed the Banners manager, Desiderius Erasmus, in the fourth inning, for questioning calls. Ben Mazer led the Florence Banners attack in the losing effort, with two doubles, a triple, and a stolen base. John Keats homered for Florence.
UNIVERSE 6 BANNERS 5
The Universe wins again, in Phoenix. Harriet Beecher Stowe, who beat Beethoven twice in Round One, struck out four and walked none, as she held Florence to 3 runs through 7 innings, running her record to 3-0 in the playoffs. Marsilio Ficino started for the Banners and took the loss. Christina Rossetti continued her hot hitting for Florence—with the score 6-3 in the top of the ninth, she doubled in two runs to make it 6-5. Jean Cocteau, who has been invaluable for the Universe out of the bullpen, got the final out for the save, walking John Keats and then striking out Friedrich Schiller. Ficino and Thomas Moore both homered in the second to give the Banners a brief 2-0 lead. Stephen Dobyns singled in two in the bottom of the second to tie the score. In the third, Juvenal doubled in Chuck Berry and Maya Angelou, and one out later, scored on a sacrifice fly, as Phoenix took the lead for good.
BANNERS 1 UNIVERSE 0
Dante Alighieri fans six and walks none as he tosses a 5 hit shutout as the series moves to Florence, the Banners winning Game 3 by a score of 1-0. The Banners catcher, Stefan George, slapped a single through a drawn-in infield to score John Keats, for the game’s only run. Raymond Carver struck out 11 in taking the loss—almost pitching well enough to give Phoenix a commanding lead in the series. Paul Celan was 3-3, and a walk, and also made several outstanding plays from his short stop position for the Universe. The Banners’ pitching is why they are favored to win this series, and Dante, who threw inside often—which Florence, with their intimidating pitching staff likes to do—stepped up for the Banners. Percy Shelley, 23-8, 2.78 during the regular season, will attempt to tie up the series for the Banners tomorrow. Universe manager Billy Beane will counter with lefty Lucian Freud—who joined Steven Spielberg’s club mid-season, along with MLK Jr and Raymond Carver.