by Moe Zilla

Created on: March 16, 2010

It's another new sequel to "Casey Back at the Bat" - but it's a story worth telling. After all, it's been over 120 years since the fictional baseball player first disappointed all the fans in Mudville in the classic poem by striking out in the final inning. (Its original subtitle was "A Ballad of the Republic Sung in the Year 1888," according to Wikipedia...) This book's cover suggests Casey wants to redeem his legendary failure. An enormous, red-stitched baseball rushes through the foreground towards Casey, gritting his teeth through a determined swing, as a crowd in the grey background watches.

He's wearing a red baseball cap with an M - for Mudville - and this book is full of loving allusions to old-style baseball. The entire background of the first page is a light tan leather behind the obvious montage - a glove, a ball, and a black-and-white newspaper. In fact, the ballplayers' bright white uniforms are actually a collage of vintage newspaper advertisements. The watching crowd wears derbys and old-fashioned straw hats. And even the ballplayers themselves are sporting old-time moustaches!

There've been other sequels to "Casey at the Bat" - notably "Casey's Revenge" in 1906 - but more than 100 years later, this new version was pitched out by baseball writer Dan Gutman. The first surprise is that it's perfectly rhymed, just like the 1888 original.

"'Twas the last game of the season, with Mudville tied for first.
The players fought all summer; for a pennant they did thirst."

By page 7, Casey's racked up a dismal 0-2 count - two strikes, no balls, and he's one pitch away from repeating his failure. But there's those teeth gritted in determination - and the fact that he hasn't spoken a word just makes the story more dramatic.

"He sneered, he snarled at Mudville's foes, then threw the fans a smirk.
Some ladies found him handsome. Some thought he was a jerk."

If you know that classic poem, you probably have an idea of how this story comes out. Casey whacks the ball - in a very satisfying drawing. The opposing team watches the ball sail over the outfield wall as Casey rounds the bases. But it doesn't just stop there. Gutman's text insists that the ball keeps on going - across the Atlantic, into Italy, through Egypt, and over Africa. Eventually it travels through time, back to the age of the dinosaurs, then swerves up to two astronauts floating in outer space...

But then it flops back into the short-stop's mitt - and Casey is out after all.

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