Q:

Is there any symbolism in Casey at the Bat?

Casey at the Bat is one of my all-time favorite poems.  I always thought it was just about baseball.
But is it?  Is there a metaphor or an allegory hidden somewhere in the last inning of a baseball game?

A:

It's not an allegory, but it is a common feature of life. It's not "just" about baseball: it's about disappointment, about expectation, about confidence, about the trope of overcoming adversity. Sometimes, you just lose. It happens.
There's no need to apply an allegorical reading where the baseball represents, I dunno, the Free Coinage of Silver and Casey represents William Jennings Bryan. (Example borrowed from Cecil Adams.) The poem is appreciated by people who aren't baseball fans because they know the bittersweet feeling it evokes: the heartbreak of loss combined with the silliness of the poem's style. It reminds you that there's another game tomorrow, and life goes on.
True allegories are actually quite rare. The trope rarely works well, because no two situations are ever truly identical, and trying to force them to be just makes people uncomfortable. But great works capitalize on common human experiences. As they say about history, it never repeats itself, but it rhymes.

