Question

casey at the bat

a. a. milne

1. the crowd was anxious to see if jim mcginty would hit the ball.

the score stood four to two, with but one inning more to play,
and then when cooney died at first, and barrows did the same,
a sickly silence fell upon the patrons of the game.

1. a straggling few got up to go in deep dejection. the rest

clung to that hope which springs eternal in the human breast;
they thought, if only casey could get but a whack at that -
wed put up even money now, with casey at the bat.

1. but flynn preceded casey, as did also jimmy blake,

and the former was a lulu and the latter was a cake;
so upon that stricken multitude grim melancholy sat;
for there seemed but little chance of caseys getting to the bat.

1. but flynn let drive a single, to the wonderment of all,

and blake, the much despised, tore the cover off the ball;
and when the dust had lifted, and the men saw what had occurred,
they saw flynn safe at second and blake a-hugging third.

1. then from 5,000 throats and more there rose a lusty yell;

it rumbled through the valley, it rattled in the dell;
it knocked upon the mountain and recoiled upon the flat,
for casey, mighty casey, was advancing to the bat.

Explanation:

In poetry, words rhyme when they have the same ending sound. "Rat" has the ending sound /æt/. "Bat" has the ending sound /bæt/, which matches the /æt/ sound of "rat". "Blake" has the ending sound /eɪk/ and "cake" has the ending sound /eɪk/, neither of which match the /æt/ sound of "rat".

Answer:

bat