by Michael Ceraolo
It took nerve to apply for the manager’s job
when I was only twenty-four,
but I felt I was qualified:
I had been the captain of every team I played on,
and I had coached college ball in the offseason
I was proud of devising the shift
we sprung on Ted Williams
I understand teams these days use it on most players,
and that there is talk of banning such radical shifting
in order to increase offense
I am against taking that option away from managers;
the solution now is the same as it was for Ted:
hit the ball the other way
But I guess most major leaguers
are as stubborn as Ted was
