by Fred Lovato
“Fav female athlete?”
“My wife” Shohei’s quick reply
MVP answer
dear roy
by Ollie Shane
(for Roy Halladay, 1977-2017)
how are you doing
wherever you ended up?
do you still fly above as your son follows in your footsteps
waving at him every so often?
did you ever see your own plaque at our mecca?
maybe you do, but then again
we as fans project our hopes and hard-owned money onto our faves
is it any surprise when we discover they have a daredevil on their shoulder instead of a chip
to motivate their game?
Ollie Shane is the author of the chapbook I Do It So It Feels Like Hell (Bottlecap Press, 2022) and the forthcoming full-length notes from the void (Wild Ink Publishing, 2025). He is also a second-generation Philadelphia Phillies fan all thanks to his beloved grandfather, Vince Tassoni.
Vernon “Lefty” Gomez
by Michael Ceraolo
Unlike Yogi later, I did say everything I said
And while a couple of the details related
might not have been entirely accurate, the substance was
I don’t mind being remembered as a storyteller,
but I sometimes wonder if that was why
the writers never elected me to the Hall of Fame:
because I was more entertaining than they were,
they dismissed how great a pitcher I was
“Say Hey” (The Willie Mays Song)
By The Treniers
Did They Tell Me How to Pitch to Ted Williams?
by Bobby Shantz
Did they tell me how to pitch to Ted Williams?
Sure they did.
It was great advice,
very encouraging.
They said he had no weakness,
won’t swing at a bad ball,
has the best eyes in the business,
and can kill you with one swing.
He won’t hit anything bad,
but don’t give him anything good.
