“Pitching Game (A Good Changeup),” by Tim Eichhorn

I like the simplicity of this piece. Simple, yet profound, especially if you’ve tried your hand at throwing a changeup and realized what an art form it truly is.

*

A good fastball
is not achieved
without a good
changeup. That
is to say that one
must feel the circle
within his stretched
hands and gently
unravel her laces
with your fingertips;
before you simply
jam it up inside of
the zone as fast as
you can.

“Looking Backward and Forward,” by Ralph E. McMillin

This poem by Ralph McMillin was published in the early-20th century, and you can sense the time period in the tone and language of the piece. I like the juxtaposition of the cool escape of evening baseball against the harsher daytime responsibilities of work or school.

*

I
The great stand’s massive horseshoe towers
And casts its shadow o’er the field,
The clean-cut base paths carve the sward,
An emerald diamond on a shield;
Across the glossy sheen—
The verdant stretching green—
Lazy, the bleachers rise,
Gaunt frames against the skies.
Daily I labor here,
Labor to cry and cheer,
Closing my eyes, look back
Along the winding track,
And see, dim set there in the year’s gray haze,
The tree-fringed diamond of my boyhood days.

II
The maple trees that lined the road,
The meadow stretching to the stream;
The deep worn sunken pitcher’s box,
Each measured white stone base a-gleam,
Planted at ev’ry turn,
Your bare, bruised feet to burn;
There in the evening’s cool
Respite from field or school,
Sacred to Saturday’s
Scroll of tremendous frays;
There where the hills looked down,
Guarding the nestling town,
First came the Vision, pointing out the way,
The dream of Big League diamonds far away.

“Green Haven in a Concrete Jungle,” by Michael Brogan

I like the idea of having a baseball-related tradition with your dad. The Tigers did make it to the playoffs this past season; I hope these gentlemen were able to make it out to a game and enjoy it.

*

Even as I walk past,
Comerica stands
grass illuminates like a lamp post on a winter night.
Tigers season, baby
Dad and I do our yearly tradition.
The smell of the park is second to none.
But not this year.
Dad ain’t doin so well.
His knee ain’t up for it.
Love you, old man.
Maybe, just maybe, the old Tigs
will surprise us and make the playoffs
and then
maybe, just maybe,
we can go to a game
and let that tradition ride on.

“Roberto Clemente Eulogy,” by Steve Blass

Steve Blass was a teammate of Roberto Clemente from 1964 through 1972. Following Clemente’s death on December 31, 1972, Blass read the eulogy below at a memorial service for Clemente held in Puerto Rico on January 4, 1973.

*

We’ve been to the wars together
We took our foes as they came,
And always you were the leader,
And ever you played the game.

Idol of cheering multitudes;
Records are yours by sheaves
Iron of frame they hailed you:
Decked you with laurel leaves.

But higher than we hold you;
We who have known you best,
Knowing the way you came through
Every human test.

Let this be a silent token
Of lasting friendships gleam,
And all that we’ve left unspoken—
Your friends on the Pirates team.