Tag: orioles

a los aficionados

words about our fraught body beautiful
boom
sky in spring egg blue
struggle passion
matadors and gravity
baseballs flying straight pure natural
touching
nobody nothing but here

from the playground at the city at sunrise
(the orioles played to no one once in 2015 after freddie gray was murdered by police for no apparent reason)

from cincinnati

coconuts dropping down south
who the hell
any pitch any curve
there will be lightning
know where to cover
wild bulls raising dust at your feet
knuckles flying like egg salad
high small fastballs
zeros and ones

memorial stadium site at sunrise
(frank robinson led the orioles to their decisive first world championship in 1966)

hurrah

a brutal line drive slices sharply
starting southwest then due east into the sun
over green field raked dust custom
over fading fence into sports shirts called out over radio
strikezone dizzy disappearing
snap go fling take swing bunt
depression safe out in bluesky brightlights
howl swear run jump fight

memorial stadium from shallow center at sunrise
(anheuser-busch forced the browns out of st. louis and other team owners forced bill veeck out of baseball, temporarily, and the orioles landed at memorial stadium in 1954)

once in every

fire and flame
make me stronger
another chance again
still a lifetime
still i cry

pennsylvania avenue at sunrise
(the orioles, then the vibra-naires—sonny til, george nelson, alex sharp, johnny reed, lloyd gaither—and songwriter deborah chessler, all from west baltimore, began collaborating in 1948 and, according to many music historians, sparked the explosion of rock and roll after getting started on corners and in clubs on pennsylvania avenue)

self avoided sprints rewarded

instructed
arrayed performance
vessels in waves crystalling flaking cratering branching networking ranging faulting striking
contracted minutes
lub dub murmur crackle whistle rub gasp grate gallop
ball flying in soaring out snapping to connecting with arcing across
with turf wood leather steel cotton wool plastic
mud grass lime tar resin sweat lager ale sugar meat
pant snort tap crunch squelch pop crack thud whack shout roar thunder
sun mist bright grey spotlight backdrop green brown black orange blue mottled pixels in time
into pitches snaps strikes yards seconds outs downs bases hashes innings possessions runs points games series seasons
pieces process symmetry chaos

home plate sunrise
(municpal stadium, later rebuilt and renamed into memorial stadium, was built in 1922 on thirty-third street and ellerslie avenue)

union park

in a dirty dreary ramshackle place
muggsy uncle robbie ee-yah wee willie kingpin big dan
heinie steve frank boileryard
sadie bill kid bert count duke
stub old wax figger
bunt chop run sacrifice impede impose slug argue
in front over around and through
giants beaneaters phillies grooms spiders pirates and colts
kelly smells precisely every ball out in the high grass
but sits in the dugout panting

from center field at sunrise
(the baltimore orioles, the baseball dynasty of the 1890s, played at union park between 24th, 25th, hunter, and barclay streets)