'Baseball': San Ramon Has Talent

SAN RAMON, CA — It may not feel much like spring yet, but baseball season is back! To celebrate the start, San Ramon resident Philip Henika has shared a poem he wrote reminiscing on his younger days enjoying America's pastime.

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Baseball

Back in my time,
Black and white television,
No video games,
Played baseball all day.
Glove on the handle bars,
Bat and ball in the basket,
Played everywhere,
The backyard, the playground, Little League.
Sent my younger brother for the neighbor’s dog.
Saw the longest homer ever,
Over my head in left, still rising, across the street.
They came out of their house when it bounced off the roof.
Grabbed a white ball so that we could see,
Thirty more minutes of baseball at dusk,
The crack of my glasses - falling to the ground,
A black and blue eye for weeks,
No Injured List for me,
That is what they call it today.
Played in the heat,
The dust rises with the slide.
Played in the cold where I could see my breath.
Played second base in Little League.
Turned a double play.
Got hit in the butt by a pitch.
Everyone laughed.
Rubbed it - then took the jog to first.
Lost a tooth while on the mound.
They even did radio in Marin.
Breaking news: I think the kid just lost a tooth.
Put it my pocket - looked in for the sign.
Came from Wisconsin when I was 10 – 1956.
Came for Mays, McCovey, Marichal, Cepeda et. al.,
The Met’s infield trying to judge a pop-up
In Candlestick winds.
Came for the comedy that is baseball.
Cried when the Yankees caught McCovey’s liner.