Rogers Hornsby said of the offseason: "People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring."

Hot stove baseball dates back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries in small-town America when fans used to gather around the warmth of a wood- or coal-burning stove in local gathering places—general stores, barbershops, or saloons—during the cold winter months to gossip and debate baseball. The term shifted as America changed from referencing actual fireside chats to describing the high-intensity trade and free-agent period managed by Major League Baseball teams.

Fans spend winter months  tracking player trades, free-agent signings, and arbitration news until Spring Training begins in the middle of February. Some follow baseball in alternative leagues , such as the Australian Baseball League or winter leagues in the Caribbean and Latin America. And, some even turn to other sports to fill the gap.

In this strictly baseball collection, we want to know in poetry or prose, how you cope without baseball, whether you're a fan or an athlete. If you follow another sport, your writing still has to come back to baseball.

The Skinny

• Your poem or essay must fit on two side of an 8.5 x 8.5 sheet of paper with 1-inch margins. That's about 52 lines for poems, counting breaks, or 400 words for prose.

• The best 30 submissions will be accepted (same number as the number of MLB teams) and the form will close when we hit our number.

• The goal is to have the collection done by spring training, so the deadline is JANUARY 10, 2027 at the latest.

• We reserve the right to close submissions early, and to accept more than 30 pieces.

• Please be sure to submit your final, well-edited work.

Go to the Hot Stove Baseball Submission Form