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On April 2nd, 1997, for the first time in Major League Baseball history, the salary of one player surpasses the payroll of an entire team. In 1997, the Chicago White Sox will pay Albert Belle $10 million for the season which is $928,333 more than the entire Pittsburgh Pirates payroll. The first officially all-professional baseball team was the 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings (Reds).… Read more
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On April 1st, 1997, the Padres score 11 runs in the bottom of the sixth inning en route to a 12-5 rout of the Mets. Setting a record for the most runs scored in one inning of an Opening Day contest this century. Chris Gomez, Rickey Henderson, and Quilvio Veras lead the attack with back-to-back-to-back… Read more
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Jo-Anne had started pouring the coffee when the doorbell rang. After four in the morning, it would be either the milkman or cops. I was not betting on Louis Pasteur’s boy. We all deserted the kitchen for the front door. “Police Medical Examiner,” the stocky man with rimless glasses and a doctor’s satchel told us.… Read more
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We read poetry for many reasons. Chief of these should be pleasure. Too often however, it is not. One of the differences between the way we think of music and the way we think of poetry is rooted in this idea of pleasure. Music is often presented as something to be appreciated and enjoyed. Where as Poetry is… Read more
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The tradition of the Nature Poem in American Literature is as old as American poetry itself. In a land of vast distances and grand landscapes, nature imprints itself “naturally” into the American psyche and self-understanding. It would not be an exaggeration to declare that there are really only two subjects for a truly “American” poet:… Read more
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On April 28, 2024, the last Opening Day game for the Oakland Athletics took place between the then Oakland A’s and the Cleveland Guardians . I have been lucky enough to be in person for a few moments of Baseball History. All of them have been joyful occasions with the exception of this one, the… Read more
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Finally, the long dark night of the soul is over. Tomorrow there will be boxscores that matter again and game summaries worth reading closely. It is Opening Day! My local nine, The Minnesota Twins, are in St. Louis to play the Cardinals today. While the Mets are in Houston and the Pirates in Miami. Baseball… Read more
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James Wright spent a great deal of time in the North Country. He knew the want of hard-winters as well as the bountiful beauty of easy springs: physically, spiritually, and emotionally. (Wright, like so many poets – all poets? – suffered from depression.) Many of his best poems are about the beauty of nature, at… Read more
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Today’s poem, “The Question,” has long been one of my favorite Shelley poems. It embodies for me the very essence of the Romantic. Indeed, if I were to teach a class on the Romantic poets, I think I might begin with “The Question.” Simply for the fact that it so perfectly brings together all the elements… Read more
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Just like that he laughed. “You’re a cocky little punk.” “You’re the first guy who ever called me little, friend.” He laughed again. “Come on inside and have some coffee and keep your language where it belongs. I got all kinds of visitors today.” (cf. Spillane, Mickey. The Mike Hammer Collection, Volume II.) Read more
