All-Star Game Giveaway: Pick a Winning Haiku

On Friday, we offered you the chance to win a $75 gift card to Dick’s Sporting Goods courtesy of Holiday Inn, the Official Partner of MLB Road Trips, who is doing a pair of contests related to next week's Home Run Derby and All-Star Game.  We asked you to submit your best 2011 MLB related haikus, and sat back and watched a bunch of them roll in.  The ranged from droll, to sentimental, to painful.  Here are the 10 best of the many excellent entries we received. Please, stick around and help us choose the winner.

(Please note: because some entrants sent us many, many entries, we picked a maximum of one from each finalist. Also, if you wrote one of these, don't have a link on your name, and want one, let us know and we'll update.)

David Griebling, on the biggest surprise of 2011:

The Pittsburgh Pirates

Good for them.  It's been a while.

1992

Mike Scarlett, frustrated by the Royals’ continued struggles:

Eric Hosmer and

Mike Moustakas can pitch, right?

Just Trust. The. Process!

Our buddy Dan Wade, who wrote this about TCM’s favorite non-Twin before everyone in MLB with more than 10 plate appearances was added to the All Star team:

Andrew McCutchen
Tremendous, five-tool talent
Biggest All-Star snub

Another friend of the blog (or at least friend of our Twitter feeds), Jason Wojciechowski, on the next big thing:

Scoring down again.

Drug tests? Looser ball? Cutter?

No. Just need more Trout.

Theo of Hot Corner Harbor, on the folly of early season results:

Boston: adds big; BUT

Team starts year losing! WORLD ENDS!

Oh, but then they win.

John Semiz, on the unfair speculation about Jose Bautista:

It is a witch hunt.
Stay within the bell curve please
Jose Bautista

Scott Wade, on the Twins’ injury problems:

Mauer, Morneau, Young,
Kubel, Thome, Nathan, Span.
Is T.C. Bear next?

Corey Miller, on a part of the game that seems stuck in the past:

Play keeps improving:
Pitching, coaching, fielding, ump...
Oh wait. Nevermind.

Our wonderfully named Twitter friend Mr. HorrorPants (also, apparently known as John in some parts), author of The Hoosecows, an online baseball mystery novel, gets kinda deep on us:

Teams with new patches

Black numbers on uniforms

Names taught to children.

Finally, friend of the blog, and overall good guy David Kaleida, or 6-4-3, mocks our entire project:

A haiku contest?

Thanks for mailing it in, guys

What a lame idea.

Here again are the details on the Holiday Inn giveaways, the prizes for which include a weekend getaway to the city of your choice and two tickets to see your favorite MLB team play:

• For the Home Run Derby (July 11), text your guess of the distance of the longest home run that will be hit that night to 88222; and
• For the All-Star Game itself (July 12), texting in either "AL" or "NL" to 88222, guess which team will end up with the most hits.

And that's it. Vote below for our winner of $75 to Dick's Sporting Goods (and runners-up to receive other stuff). Voting ends upon the last out of the All-Star Game tomorrow, Tuesday, July 12.

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