« It's her party and she'll laugh if she wants to [Happy birthday to you, Nin Andrews!] | Main | Poem: On Reading with Jerome Sala and David Shapiro at the Zinc Bar Last Night a Year Ago [by David Lehman] »
We got together in secret the other day
and discussed the center field position
We decided among ourselves
you are the greatest in New York,
which means everywhere.
Sincerely,
Joe DiMaggio,
Mickey Mantle
Duke Snider
As a final step before posting your comment, enter the letters and numbers you see in the image below. This prevents automated programs from posting comments.
Having trouble reading this image? View an alternate.
Your Information
(Name and email address are required. Email address will not be displayed with the comment.)
Radio
I left it
on when I
left the house
for the pleasure
of coming back
ten hours later
to the greatness
of Teddy Wilson
"After You've Gone"
on the piano
in the corner
of the bedroom
as I enter
in the dark
from New and Selected Poems by David Lehman
I first saw Willie Mays play for the San Francisco Giants against my hometown Philedelphia Phillies at Connie Mack Stadium. Besides outright baseball card purchases (especially the entire Topps carton each year), I had every baseball card on the "Say Hey Kid" that I could corral from intense schoolyard "flipping" contests. I even had a rare card showing Willie Mays and the Phillies' Richie Ashburn together as National League batting champions. For that one card, I exchanged 100 other baseball cards won in "flipping" contests. I still think I got the far better of that deal. I loved watching Willie Mays play. He could hit, hit for power, run, steal, throw, catch (best "basket" catch skill of all time), hustle, and show joy in doing it all unlike any other player I ever saw, whether in the flesh or on TV. Sorry, Mantle worshipers, but Willie edges out the Mick, especially when you consider that Mantle finished his career with a batting average below .300, while Mays finished his longer career with a batting average above it. I remember interviewing for an editorial job where the editor in chief surprised me with this question: "If you could have lunch with any living athlete, who would it be?" I immediately answered, "Willie Mays." He asked why. "Because watching him play was the greatest pleasure I ever had with my father, and I want to thank Willie personally at our lunch." The EIC reached out his hand to me, smiled, and said, "Welcome aboard."
Posted by: Dr. Earle R. Hitchner III | September 19, 2018 at 02:07 PM