Baseball and Writing
By Marianne Moore
Suggested by post-game broadcasts'
Fanaticism? No. Writing is exciting
and baseball is like writing.
You can never tell with either
how it will go
or what you will do;
generating excitement--
a fever in the victim--
pitcher, catcher, fielder, batter.
Victim in what category?
Owlman watching from the press box?
To whom does it apply?
Who is excited? Might it be I?
It's a pitcher's battle all the way--a duel--
a catcher's, as, with cruel
puma paw, Elston Howard lumbers lightly
back to plate. (His spring
de-winged a bat swing.)
They have that killer instinct;
yet Elston--whose catching
arm has hurt them all with the bat--
when questioned, says, unenviously,
"I'm very satisfied. We won."
Shorn of the batting crown, says, "We";
robbed by a technicality.
When three players on a side play three positions
and modify conditions,
the massive run need not be everything.
"Going, going . . . " Is
it? Roger Maris
has it, running fast. You will
never see a finer catch. Well . . .
"Mickey, leaping like the devil"--why
gild it, although deer sounds better--
snares what was speeding towards its treetop nest,
one-handing the souvenir-to-be
meant to be caught by you or me.
Assign Yogi Berra to Cape Canaveral;
he could handle any missile.
He is no feather. "Strike! . . . Strike two!"
Fouled back. A blur.
It's gone. You would infer
that the bat had eyes.
He put the wood to that one.
Praised, Skowron says, "Thanks, Mel.
I think I helped a little bit."
All business, each, and modesty.
Blanchard, Richardson, Kubek, Boyer.
In that galaxy of nine, say which
won the pennant? Each. It was he.
Those two magnificent saves from the knee-throws
by Boyer, finesses in twos--
like Whitey's three kinds of pitch and pre-
diagnosis
with pick-off psychosis.
Pitching is a large subject.
Your arm, too true at first, can learn to
catch your corners--even trouble
Mickey Mantle. ("Grazed a Yankee!
My baby pitcher, Montejo!"
With some pedagogy,
you'll be tough, premature prodigy.)
They crowd him and curve him and aim for the knees. Trying
indeed! The secret implying:
"I can stand here, bat held steady."
One may suit him;
none has hit him.
Imponderables smite him.
Muscle kinks, infections, spike wounds
require food, rest, respite from ruffians. (Drat it!
Celebrity costs privacy!)
Cow's milk, "tiger's milk," soy milk, carrot juice,
brewer's yeast (high-potency--
concentrates presage victory
sped by Luis Arroyo, Hector Lopez--
deadly in a pinch. And "Yes,
it's work; I want you to bear down,
but enjoy it
while you're doing it."
Mr. Houk and Mr. Sain,
if you have a rummage sale,
don't sell Roland Sheldon or Tom Tresh.
Studded with stars in belt and crown,
the Stadium is an adastrium.
O flashing Orion,
your stars are muscled like the lion.
--------
Friday Five:
1. What does it say in the signature line of your emails?
I haven't had a .sig in ages but when I last did, it was a line stolen from
2. Did you have a senior quote in your high school yearbook? What was it? If you haven't graduated yet, what would you like your quote to be?
I didn't have a quote. I don't think my yearbook had any of that sort of who are you, what do you want to be when you grow up stuff.
3. If you had vanity plates on your car, what would they read? If you already have them, what do they say?
I have Save the Bay plates but no slogan; if I did, it would be "KROYKAH" which is Vulcan for "stop."
4. Have you received any gifts with messages engraved upon them? What did the inscription say?
I have dog tags with Kathryn Janeway's name on them and several baby gifts with messages for the parents and child.
5. What would you like your epitaph to be?
We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded by a sleep.
1. Name a slashy movie that I should see. This does NOT have to be a chartbuster, something you'd like to promote.
Kiss of the Spider Woman. It's not so much slashy as overtly gay, but it's never been out on DVD and I keep discovering that few people more than five years younger than me have seen it, despite William Hurt having won an Oscar for it. Get ahold of it and see it,
2. Name a slashy television show that you think other fen need to know about.
The Dead Zone.
3. Name a fic that particularly appeals to you and that you think other fen should know about.
Every damn word of
4. Name an author that you really like and would like to promote.
PlasticChevy, though I am sure all the Araboro fans reading this know her already; she's just a wonderful writer. Also
5. Name a zine or website that has really good fic in it.
Ah, what the hell, one for old time's sake: The JetC Index. Some good, some bad, some appallingly awful, but I spent many, many happy hours here, once upon a time.
And from my lunch date,
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