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John Henry

by Michael Ceraolo

I’m not the billionaire owner
I was a catcher in the 1910s
I wasn’t much of a hitter,
though I was a pretty good defensive catcher;
the Big Train liked to have me catch him,
so that should tell you something
But being a backup backstop
wasn’t the most secure employment,
so I eagerly joined the Fraternity
when Dave Fultz formed it,
and I was active in the union,
serving as Washington’s player representative
The Lords weren’t having unionism,
even, and maybe especially, those
who had been active in earlier baseball unions
but were now in positions of power
And I was run out of the league,
and then run out of the majors a year later,
the eternal fate of the non-star
who dares to stand up for his and others’ rights

 

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Clothespins

By Stuart Dybek

I once hit clothespins
for the Chicago Cubs.
I’d go out after supper
when the wash was in
and collect clothespins
from under four stories
of clothesline.
A swing-and-a-miss
was a strike-out;
the garage roof, Willie Mays,
pounding his mitt
under a pop fly.
Bushes, a double,
off the fence, triple,
and over, home run.
The bleachers roared.
I was all they ever needed for the flag.
New records every game—
once, 10 homers in a row!
But sometimes I’d tag them
so hard they’d explode,
legs flying apart in midair,
pieces spinning crazily
in all directions.
Foul Ball! What else
could I call it?
The bat was real.

Stuart Dybek, the recipient of both Guggenheim and Macarthur fellowships, is the author of seven collections of short stories and poetry. He is the Distinguished Writer in Residence at Northwestern University where he teaches at the School of Professional Studies.

 

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Tinker/Evers/Chance

by Michael Ceraolo

We once were discrete individuals,
but after we were linked in the FPA poem,
we couldn’t be separated
We went into the Hall of Fame together
We can’t be separated even in death,
and that’s okay with us: it is much better
to be remembered together than forgotten separately.

Michael Ceraolo is a 62-year-old retired firefighter/paramedic and active poet who has two full-length books, Euclid Creek from Deep Cleveland Press and 500 Cleveland Haiku from Writing Knights Press. Two additional books are also in the pipeline:  Euclid Creek Book Two from unbound content press and Lawyers, Guns and Money from Writing Knights Press.

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Eddie Gaedel

by Michael Ceraolo

During the war I came in handy
because I could work in places
nonlittle people couldn’t get to,
and after the war I became a performer
Mr. Veeck said he’d never read Thurber’s story,
but I’m skeptical about his claim:
he said he would have a sniper in place
to shoot me if I tried to swing the bat
I never knew whether or not he was joking

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The Summer Game

by Doug Fahrendorff

Baseball
Seventy years a fan
And counting
From the “Whiz Kids”
To the “Brew Crew”
Following the boys of summer
Enjoying the timeless flow
Of the game
The perfect way to spend
A summer afternoon