It looks easy from a distance,
easy and lazy, even,
until you stand up to the plate
and see the fastball sailing inside,
an inch from your chin,
or circle in the outfield
straining to get a bead
on a small black dot
a city block or more high,
a dark star that could fall
on your head like a leaden meteor.
The grass, the dirt, the deadly hops
between your feet and overeager glove:
football can be learned,
and basketball finessed, but
there is no hiding from baseball
the fact that some are chosen
and some are not—those whose mitts
feel too left-handed,
who are scared at third base
of the pulled line drive,
and at first base are scared
of the shortstop's wild throw
that stretches you out like a gutted deer.
There is nowhere to hide when the ball's
spotlight swivels your way,
and the chatter around you falls still,
and the mothers on the sidelines,
your own among them, hold their breaths,
and you whiff on a terrible pitch
or in the infield achieve
something with the ball so
ridiculous you blush for years.
It's easy to do. Baseball was
invented in America, where beneath
the good cheer and sly jazz the chance
of failure is everybody's right,
beginning with baseball.
"Baseball" by John Updike, from Endpoint. © Knopf, 2009. Reprinted with permission."Baseball" by John Updike, from Endpoint. © Knopf, 2009. Reprinted with permissionhttps://open.substack.com/pub/thewritersalmanac/p/the-writers-almanac-from-tuesday-998?r=35ogp&utm_medium=ios
…In Ms. Viorst's book, the 10th good thing about Barney is the way he becomes a part of the earth and so helps the flowers to grow. That's an immortality beyond debate.
The 10th good thing about Rascal was his daily testimony of unconditional love. In his every waking, bouncing moment, in his every grateful, unguarded nap in my lap, he reminded me that love is always worth the price of heartbreak. And that's a kind of immortality too.
Willie Mays has died, just as they prepare to play an MLB game at his starting place: Birmingham's Rickwood Field.
They used to play his song (and Mickey's and the Duke's) before the Nashville Sounds home games at old Greer Stadium. 🎜"Now it's the '80's..." 🎝
How time marches on.
