It has been said that poetry captures and expresses the true essence of a people, and if this is so, it must be asked whether American poets have responded to the national pastime. The answer is a resounding YES, for poetry is a thing of images, and the images baseball creates are unmatched in the sporting realm.
            The roster of poets who have gone to bat for the national pastime is a virtual Murderer’s Row, including the likes of Walt Whitman, Robert Frost, Marianne Moore, William Carlos Williams, Robert Creeley, Kenneth Patchen, Donald Hall, Tom Clark, and Quincy Troupe, among others. In fact, Robert Frost summed up his passion for the game in a letter, written early in his literary career, in which he said, “Nothing flatters me more than to have it assumed that I could write prose -- unless it be to have it assumed that I once pitched a baseball with distinction.”
            This audio anthology continues the long and distinguished relationship between poetry and baseball. Michael C. Ford, a Pulitzer Prize nominee for his Emergency Exits: Selected Poems 1970-1995, scoured the sandlots of Southern California to compile a stellar lineup of heavy-hitting and rubber-armed literary figures, eager to take their swings and toss some metaphors for the newest team on the sporting scene, the Los Angeles Bards. The CD includes approximately 45 minutes of material from the Bards’ inaugural game, sponsored by the Baseball Reliquary and played on August 25, 2002 at the Donald R. Wright Auditorium of the Pasadena Central Library, Pasadena, California. Featured poets include Harry E. Northup, Joel Lipman, Philomene Long, Fred Voss, Chef Guillaume, Joan Jobe Smith, Eloise Klein Healy, Gerald Locklin, and Michael C. Ford.
            Armed with his official lineup card and being careful not to bat anyone out of order, player-manager Michael C. Ford, the Lou Boudreau of the Los Angeles poetry scene, introduces each of the wordsmiths as they step to the plate. Their poems cover a panoramic view of the baseball landscape, from pickup softball and semi-pro to the major leagues, exploring the game’s inner magic and meaning and recalling its cult heroes and icons such as Ted Williams, Steve Bilko, Kirk Gibson, Joe Pepitone, Andy Pafko, and Chico Carrasquel. Along the way, even Marcus Aurelius, Gertrude Stein, and God appear as role players inside the poets’ “interior diamonds.” 

THE LINEUP

Harry E. Northup
“birth movies child rest glow learn church steal run hide”

Joel Lipman
“Passing through the Big Leagues”

 Philomene Long
“Marcus Aurelius at a Dodger Game: Kirk Gibson Up To Bat”

Fred Voss
“On Stage”
“Still in the Game”

Chef Guillaume
“How Does God Fit In To Baseball?”

 Joan Jobe Smith
“Ted Williams’ Tongue as Recalled by a Former Cocktail Waitress Tomato”
“Steve Bilko Taught Me How To Spit”

 Eloise Klein Healy
“Asking About You”
“Double Play”

Gerald Locklin
“Opening Day”

 Michael C. Ford
“Grounding Out in Southern California”

            The CD packaging features introductory comments by Terry Cannon, Executive Director of the Baseball Reliquary, and a full-color reproduction of Ben Sakoguchi’s painting “Brownie Brand,” from his Orange Crate Label Series.
            For further information, contact the Baseball Reliquary by phone at (626) 791-7647 or by e-mail at terymar@earthlink.net.