“Numbers Game,” by Richard Armour

This piece was originally published in 1972 in All in Sport, one of many poetry collections written by Richard Armour. This one is a fun little baseball logic puzzle, which I think I’ve been able to work out, though as I read it over again and think about it further, it seems there are multiple answers to this one.

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One runner’s safe, one runner’s out,

Or so the ump has beckoned.

The one who’s safe touched second first,

The one who’s out, first second.