In Those Days

by Paul Kocak

In those days
He wrapped his arms around me
Bracketing my hands on a bat
The swing ours
Hit or miss

In those days
I felt encircled
Firm as the sun
Sure as iron
Hot or cold

In those days
We knew neither past nor future
Neither fear nor fight
Just the pitch tossed to us
Frozen in time

Paul Kocak is the author of Baseball’s Starry Night: Reliving Major League Baseball’s 2011 Wild Card Night of Shock and Awe, which Doris Kearns Goodwin called “a magical book about a magical night.” He followed this with World Serious: One San Francisco Giants Fan’s 2012 Pilgrimage.