By MONTE DUTTON

In the 1980s, a song called “Talkin’ Baseball (Willie, Mickey and The Duke)” was so popular that its author, Terry Cashman, recorded alternative versions for every major-league team.

Talkin’ baseball / Kluszewski, Campanella / Talkin’ baseball / The Man and Bobby Feller / The Scooter, The Barber and The Newc / They knew ‘em all from Boston to Dubuque / Especially Willie, Mickey and The Duke.

Minor-league baseball returned to Greenville in 1984, and, with the assistance of fellow press-box residents Rudy Jones and Ernie Kastner, I wrote a Greenville Braves version. I don’t think I have it saved anywhere – at least not on something more modern than a floppy disk – but I remember one verse.

Doc Estes was hittin’ / Roy Archer North was quittin’ / One Ruiz comin’ in, one goin’ out / Dewsy was in the box / Mike Cole bein’ picked off / And down in the stands the fans were muffin’ all the foul balls.

What was my first thought when I awakened this morning? Well, okay, technically, my first thought was, I wonder if it’s raining yet, but my second thought was a “Talkin’ Baseball” for the high-school champions of Laurens County.

If you live in a tree house and off the land, secretly, in the woods near Ekom Beach, perhaps you haven’t heard that Clinton High School won the state baseball championship in Class 3A and Laurens District High School reached the Upstate finals in 4A. In most of the county, the news has been passed by acclamation.

First, the Raiders:

Jackson Martin made the plays / From outfield to first base / Zay Pulley tracked ‘em down in center field / Hamby could do it all / Hughes could fire that ball / And Tori was wavin’ ‘em in when they rounded third base.

The Red Devils:

Wilson Wages was racin’ / Wil Stewart was first basin’ / Zach Fortman makin’ all the plays at short / Carson Glenn nailed ‘em down / With Youngs all around / And Sean McCarthy was watchin’ it all with eyes on the prize.

Now everybody!

Talkin’ baseball / Red Devils and the Raiders / Talkin’ baseball / They win sooner or later / Caleb, Jaedon and Zane, for sure / They knew ‘em all from Kinards to Gray Court / Especially Wilson, Justin and The Voice (let’s go, let’s go, let’s go …) / Especially Hunter, Asher and Mike Hughes (ah’right, ah’right, ah’right …)

An entire song could be composed for either team. They played some serious ball this spring.

Mostly I write prose. I dabble in writing lyrics and poetry.

I’ve got a baseball novel, The Latter Days, out. It’s a tale about a veteran scout who stumbles upon a prospect no one else knows about and decides he can personally make a big leaguer out of him. The plot thickens.