Baseball of the Heart

June 2, 2019

I was very much moved by the tribute this weekend to the 1969 World Series Champion New York Mets.  I was young in ’69…in the middle of a wonderful college experience…and newly in love with “the one.”  As announcer Howie Rose introduced the likes of Ron Swaboda, Jerry Grote and Ed Kranepool, I was happily transported to a golden time in my life.  Although I still watch baseball, the Mets reunion reminded me that so many baseball “moments” reflect personal milestones in my younger and better times.  

I was so moved as to revisit a favorite poetry book of mine, Home Team, by Edwin Romond. As I sat on my porch in the early evening, the imagery of the poems sparked so many emotions:  childhood pain in “The Mazarosky Wall,” thrills of the barreling Thurmon in “The Distant Man” and the lonely excitement of late night radio in “Baseball in the Dark.”  So many more.  

What’s remarkable is Edwin’s skill in painting such vivid pictures, at once reducing them to his personal reflections and then somehow transferring those inner-distinctions to the reader. Experiencing these poems in truly transformative.  Baseball as a metaphor of life? In this work…absolutely!

Author: billbenbarker

I recently retired after a 34 year career in public education. I was a teacher, supervisor, and administrator. Essentially, I enjoyed it all. The nonsense surrounding NCLB basically drove me to the edge...a good intention gone terribly wrong. In addition, I'm a founder (along with my late wife, Carolyn) of the Country Gate Playhouse community theatre in Belvidere, New Jersey. In recent years I've dabbled in writing interactive dinner theatre plays. I have also written a play called "Jersey Diner" as well as a youth oriented musical adaptation of "Tom Sawyer". Since "retiring" I'm an adjunct at our local community college. I also serve as a New Jersey school district education consultant. View all posts by billbenbarker