by Bill Staples, Jr., and John Kenney
Lowell high school
spring 1939
on the eve of a new
baseball campaign
coach Walter Foye
frantically searches
for a standout star
There is one potential ace
who ought to stand up
under our predictions
right here
.    and now
He’s Jack Kerouac
A splendid sprinting product of Mike Haggerty’s
a husky football product of Tom Keady’s
a right kid
a product of a loving home
.    God bless Leo and Gabrielle
fanatically interested
in their baby boy’s athletic career
The kid strikes me
with the same sort of
hope and dreams
the Florida sportswriters
conjured around
Red Sox rookie
Ted Williams
.    just weeks ago
He’s Jack Kerouac
He has everything
all the goods
but has yet to be tested
Can he swing the ole hickory
under fire in a ballgame
like he does in practice?
This much is certain
this much we know
he will be out there
trying to give it
.    heart, grit, guts, sweat, smarts
but only time will tell
the world the honest truth
I think the kid bids fair to be
a sensation of the season
unless the injury bugaboo
throttles down
his great promise
or some other reason
Lookout!
mark my words
the kid from Lowell
is a ballplayer
who bears watching
He can stand all this ballyhoo
rates as much as any thumper who
ever gave promise
to a hopeful ball club
He has all the stuff
I’m a believer
he has the temperament
and attitude
.    of a big leaguer
He’s Jack Kerouac
From Bill Staples’ blog, International Pastime. Bill took a column by John Kenney in the Lowell Sun, a preseason preview of the local baseball prospects, and set it to a jazzy Kerouackian rhythm. All rights reserved.Â