Table of Contents
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction Merrill Leffler xiii
Mood Indigo 3
Every Buddhist Is a Baseball Player 4
Trade Deadline at the Museum 6
Oranges 7
Baseball Cards 8
Sophisticated Lady 9
Sun Ra Left Me Here Standing in Front of the Sam Gilliam 10
Box Score Sonnet 11
The Sounds of the Game 12
Yoga 13
Radio 14
Wild Pitch 15
Waikin' 16
How I Found Love Behind the Catcher's Mask 17
Losing the Lead and One's Children 18
The Black Sox Scandal 19
Chicago 20
Looking for Sidney Bechet 21
Emmett Ashford 22
Poem for Glenn Burke 23
Carl Mays 24
Jimmy Piersall 25
Ken Griffey Sr. 26
Poem for Stacey Abrams 27
Joe DiMaggio 28
It's Either Baseball or Free Jazz 29
Walking Man 30
Trapped Inside the Glove: The American Pitch 31
Baseball Meditation 32
Inside the Park 33
The Changeup 34
Scouting Report 35
Haiti 36
Runners 37
Pine Tar 38
Beanball #2 39
Death of a Ball Player in 9 Innings 40
The Game 43
The Daily News 44
Beer 45
The Haiku Fan 46
The Losing Streak 47
The Slump 48
The Standings 49
The Walk Off 50
The Shooting 51
Just Be Young for Me 52
I Feel 53
Her 54
Hospice 55
A League of Their Own 56
The Things We Leave Behind 57
Querido Clemente 58