![]() (This being the season of Passover and Easter and Opening Day, a time of rejuvenation of body and soul and spirit and good writing about sport, I am sharing the Charles Barasch poem about the first President to throw out the first ball on opening day.) William Taft’s Dream The players liked my ceremonial pitch, so when Walter Johnson’s arm gives out, he points, beckons me from the stands. I hand my suitcoat to Helen, remove my tie and cuff links, roll up my sleeves. An usher opens a gate, and when I step onto the grass, for a moment I’m confused, the crowd’s roar surrounds me and I feel weightless, as if lifted by an ocean surge. I’m afraid I’ve gone down with the Titanic, but then an urgent chant,“Big Bill,” shakes the stadium. I wave to the throng and ascend the mound. Cobb has never seen pitches like mine, the first two race past him faster than Barney Oldfield, and he swings over a drop-pitch, my hummingbird. Frank Merriwell strikes out too, and then it’s Booker T. Washington’s turn, but W.E.B. DuBois pinch-hits, shoves him aside. He glares as I wind up and uncoil like a cobra, and now the pitch buzzes in like an army airplane. He swings and the ball sails into the sky, but I sprint across the outfield and snag it. Helen comes out of the dugout. I ask her if I can stay and play baseball, but she says no, I have to be president. I throw my glove on the ground and follow her home. --Charles Barasch (Poem originally published in “Dreams of the Presidents,” by North Atlantic Books -- 43 poems, each a president’s dream. Many of Barasch's other baseball poems are in the anthology, “Baseball, I Gave You All the Best Years of My Life,” also published by North Atlantic Books. (Barasch and I played softball a few times back on Long Island; now he teaches and writes poetry in Vermont. Two years ago, into his 60s, he played hardball against Bill Lee. Yes, that Bill Lee. "Luckily, he threw me a fastball; his curveball is impossible for me. I blooped it over the shortstop but the left fielder, playing me appropriately shallow, caught it." So many baseball memories end with documentable failure which is why it is such a wonderful sport for writing or reading.)
bruce
4/11/2015 03:03:49 am
George,
George Vecsey
4/11/2015 04:43:42 am
http://www.cihlhockey.net/the-cihl-officially-welcomes-the-milton-battle-arts-cobras-into-the-league/
bruce
4/11/2015 05:44:17 am
George,
George Vecsey
4/11/2015 06:17:00 am
Women's World Cup.
Ed Martin
4/13/2015 12:28:32 pm
As Doris Kearne could tell readers, or for that matter Sandy Koufax or even the late Dixie Walker, Rockville Centre is spelled the correct way.
Ed Martin
4/13/2015 12:33:16 pm
She might prefer, however, I spell her name right--Kearns Goodwin.
George Vecsey
4/13/2015 02:19:49 pm
Ed, good point. For that matter, I had a grand time in 1971 writing about he 50th anniv. of the great college FB game between Harvard and Centre College of KY -- the Praying Colonels. Good and lovely little school, SE of Louisville. GV
bruce
4/11/2015 06:35:00 am
i'm the same way. for example, I spell pearl harboUr pearl harbor because that's the way it's actually spelled. there are some spellings that I don't understand. why do we say rome in English instead of roma? it's straightforward and not difficult to pronounce. Napoli, Milano etc. Firenze might be difficult for some so Florence or venezia for venice might make sense, but rome, naples??
George Vecsey
4/11/2015 07:20:13 am
I understand consistency. We saw FC Napoli plays in Naples. OK.
Altenir Silva
4/14/2015 05:22:34 am
Dear George,
George Vecsey
4/14/2015 05:32:13 am
Altenir, with your good ear for English and John Sterling, here's what John called last night for the grand slam:
Altenir Silva
4/14/2015 06:20:03 am
Dear George,
George Vecsey
4/14/2015 08:51:25 am
Dear Altenir: The morning radio newscasters on WINS and WCBS like to imitate John Sterling...and did the other day with his first A-Bomb chant.
Josh Rubin
4/14/2015 11:14:55 am
My dad's been quiet lately in these comments, so I thought I would intrude twice in one week. I hope no one minds. I was just thinking that any discussion of baseball and poetry ought to make mention of Phil Rizzuto.
Gene Palumbo
4/15/2015 08:46:38 am
Fellow blog readers: it’s time for all of us to lean on George with a non-negotiable demand: from now one, he must alert us immediately when he publishes a column in the Times. I hadn’t checked recently, and just now saw that he had one last Thursday:
George Vecsey
4/15/2015 09:51:43 am
Gene, sorry, I misunderstood, I thought you added a comment on the NYT site. Thanks for caring. I thought about tweeting about it, but didn't have the psychic energy. Gracias, amigo, GV 4/19/2015 01:29:44 pm
The Roosevelt-Taft double bio was a remarkable read on many levels. In addition to adding to my understanding of both men, it introduced me to Ida Tarbell and the “muckrakers”.
George Vecsey
4/19/2015 02:48:06 pm
Alan, did you know that Rizzuto had a special bunt signal for the NYT photog, Ernie Sisto, in the days when photogs were on the field? That way, Ernie had his Graphlex pointed at the Scooter. GV Comments are closed.
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