You are not likely
to find a baseball poem
in the guise of a book report,
but bear with me as I extol
the best baseball book ever written.
It’s “The United Baseball Association Inc.,
J. Henry Waugh, Prop.”
The author is Robert Coover.
In the days before fantasy leagues,
this fictional tale tells the story
of one J. Henry who envisions
a whole baseball universe, the
fortunes of various teams determined
by the roll of the dice. So obsessed
is he by his creation, it became
more real to him than his own life.
As a tease, teacher that I am,
I will not tell you what happens,
except to say I remember this book
I read years ago as vividly as
I remember my Mets winning
the 1986 World Series.
Extra credit if you read it now.
THE POETRY OF THE GAME