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No. 714 · by Rafi Kam
The language of baseball manages to synthesize statistics and poetry. When I was a kid I would study my treasured 1987 Baseball Encyclopedia which went so far as to include a section of poems about baseball. The poem below was one of them.
Bonds reached 712 last night but the numbers sure don’t mean what they used to.
No. 714
author unknown
On the
21st of July
Henry Aaron
slapped Home Run No. 700
And smiled
In the quiet way in which
He smiles.
On the
17th of August
Henry Aaron
slapped Home Run No. 703
And wondered
if his wrists would not give way
And cheat him.
On the
3rd of September
Henry Aaron
slapped Home Run No. 707
slapped Home Run No. 708
And thought
of the stars.
On the
17th of September
Henry Aaron
slapped Home Run No. 711
And said
it wasn’t important
anymore
There was time.
On the
22nd day of September
Henry Aaron
slapped home run No. 712
And wondered
if nature undestood
the struggle
Of Men.
The sun is awesome and
does not compromise.
On the
29th day of September
Henry Aaron
slapped home run No. 713
And forgot
All the cruelty sent by mail.
A child walks
To the edge of the water
And efforts in the sand
of the afternoon sun
to save
Stale castles
Too illiterate
to fall.
On the
30th day of September
Henry Aaron
singled three times
and then went home
To wait the summer.
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