10/4/87
By Stuart Shea
There was a big game going on in Detroit
To decide the Eastern division champ
But my brother and I were at Comiskey
Where despite the October sunshine
The atmosphere was damp.
I was 24 but even then had an overarching sense
of melancholy.
The last game of a mediocre season?
Perfect fit for me.
The Sox beat the Athletics 5-2.
No big deal; neither team
Was going anywhere but home.
One reason we went is that we knew it would be Reggie Jackson’s last game ever.
So we alternately cheered and booed him.
He got two hits.
When the game ended
Ozzie Guillen threw his glove high in the air
And I hoped that it would never come down.
.
Posted 10/21/2009
Goodnight and Good Luck
By Stuart Shea
It’s the last day of the season,
The end of the road for 22 teams.
And the last day in the majors for a lot of guys…
we just don’t know who, yet.
Many big-league careers will end today.
The 24-year-old prospect who’ll tear up a knee in winter ball,
The 30-year-old marginal regular who’ll go to Japan to cash in,
The 33-year-old situational reliever who can’t get anyone out,
The 36-year-old backup catcher who’ll get cut next spring and retire.
Let’s tip our hat to the as-yet unknown who will exeunt omnes,
Because baseball is about them just as much
as it is about Manny and Dice-K and Greinke and C.C.
.
Posted 10/6/2009
September Baseball
By Stuart Shea
There is no clock.
The games could last forever,
Even as September suns sink sooner every day.
This is suspended-animation baseball time.
If a team is 30 out, and nobody watches,
Did the game even happen?
Maybe only in your mind,
But this is the best place for a baseball game anyway.
Cups of coffee and last gasps,
Careers come and go in a flash,
Before the eyes of the true devotees,
Miles from a pennant race.
.
Posted 9/28/2009
