I SHOOK HIS HAND

Of course I’ve heard of Greg Gagne. Who hasn’t?
He’s that famous Minnesota Twins shortstop
who hit two inside-the-park homers in one game in 1986.
He grew up in Somerset, Massachusetts.
My daughter went to high school with him.
That’s a nice, little claim to fame right there.
“Greg Gagne, oh yes, he went to high school
with my daughter, Marcy,” I like to say.

I could name every Brooklyn Dodger of the 1950s
and I can hate every New York Yankee with the best of Red Sox fans,
but I never met a real, pro baseball player until last year.
I actually shook the hand of Greg Gagne, who hit a World Series
game-winning three-run homer against Atlanta in 1991.
I met him at a poetry reading featuring myself and Jonathan Gagne,
Greg’s younger brother. Thanks Jonathan.