In honor of the start of baseball season, we take a break from crime and mysteries with today’s flash fiction about the grand old game.

Platitudinous Pronouncer

“That was a clutch hit,” said the color man. “Eaton hit a rocket. He really came to play. Showed mental toughness.”

Gawd, thought Dick, the play-by-play announcer, was that four in a row? Where’d they dig this guy up?

“You know all the clichés, don’t you, Ron?” Dick said during a commercial break, hoping he’d get the message.

“I call ‘em as I see ‘em,” Ron said slapping Dick on the back.

A week later, Ron was downcast. “They canned me,” he told Dick. “Said I was too trite. Can you beat that?”

“Your career just took a bad hop.”