The Spitball Magazine 75


The 75 Best Poems Published through issue #75, as chosen by the staff of the magazine: by Issue, by Poet, and by Title.

By Issue

1. Roland Flint – “October Series”

2. Gene Fehler – “Left-Handed Poetry”

3. Ralph S. Graber – “On the Passing of the Polo Grounds”

4. Earl Butler – “baseball card futures”

5. Jim Palana – “Elroy Face”

6. Tom Sheehan – “In Cold Fields”

7. Terry O’Toole – “Ozzie Smith”

8. Nancy Breen – “Devotion”

9. David Sanders - "Fernando"

10. WJ Harrison – “In the Bigs the Fastball Always Wins”

11. Stephen Bodnar - "Old Detroit"

12. Jan Brodt - "Mickey Lolich, After the Fact"

13. Tim Peeler - "Writing Baseball Poems in Winter or How to Make a Good Pocket in the Glove of Winter"

14. Steven Schmidt - "Stopping to Watch the Ballgame (For Will Prior)"

15. Major Ragain - "Blyleven's Fourth Shutout/June 19/85"

16. Mark Lukeman - "Dreaming Paulina"

17. Jim Sotis - "Found: The Old Mitt"

18. Jim Daniels - "Baseball Cards #1"

19. Robert Lord Keyes - "The Yankees"

20. Michael Gilmartin - "For the Duke of Carmel"

21. Jane Charnin-Aker - "At Home on Lake Erie"

22. Tom Olkowski - “Growing Old in Triple A”

23. Markham Johnson - "The Obsession"

24. Philip Doyle - “The Day the Gonfalon Bubble Burst”

25. Daniel Lowe - "Opening Day"

26. Tom Chase – “Roland at the Horn”

27. Edward C. Lynskey - "Getting Mad and Even"

28. Robert L. Harrison - "E=RBI+R"

29. Daniel Martin - "The Grey Arc of a Local Hero"

30. Charles H. Zahn – “Bread, Water, and Baseball”

31. L.G. Mason – “Tiger”

32. Brian Mahoney – “Pastime”

33. Gary Bundy - "The Blood of Baseball"

34. Rodney Torreson – “Gil McDougald, Yankee Infielder”

35. Jay Rogoff – “Over the Fence is Out”

36. James Scruton – “Extra Innings”

37. Matt Dennison – “The Big Boys”

38. Glenn Stout - “Whiffle Ball”

39. George Bowering - "Play & Work & Art"

40. Thomas Ward – “Degrees of Absence West of Rainier (For Dick Hugo)”

41. Gene Carney - "Rajah"

42. William Marsh – “The Dream Team”

43. Mark Schraf - "I Saw Rod Scurry"

44. Bob Chicoine – “The Wrecking of Old Comiskey”

45. Paul B. Janeczko - "Opening Day"

46. Edwin Romond - “Dravecky Dreams”

47. Joe Batson – “Phenomenal Batting Average”

48. Daniel Donaghy – “What We Talked About”

49. William J. McGill – "The Sadness of Moe Berg”

50. Michael J. Bielawa - “Maybe It’ll Rain Tomorrow”

51. Dan Quisenberry – “On Deck”

52. Bill Meissner – “Twisters”

53. Susanna Rich – “Squeeze Play”

54. BJ Ward - "Upon Hearing that Baseball Is Boring to America's Youth (for Ed Romond)"

55. Marc Jampole - "From a Fielder's Breviary"

56. Loren Broaddus - "Buckner Remembers"

57. Bill Keen – “Saturday’s Game”

58. Dan Liberthson – “Catch”

59. Mark E. Hayes – “Throw”

60. Fallon Allison - "Baseball and Poetry"

61. Phil Billings – “To Dan as a Three-Year Old”

62. Joseph Chelius - “Journeyman Pitcher Ed Vosberg, Philadelphia Phillies, 2000”

63. Steven Quig – “Hunting for the Ballpark in Indianapolis”

64. David A. Petreman - "Harvey Haddix: Under the Mound"

65. Tim Pitrof – “Saratoga Rain”

66. Michael Dewey – “Winter Ball”

67. Charles W. Brice – “Wild Pitch”

68. Kevin Miller - "One Sketch at the End of the World"

69. Con Chapman – “Ichiro At George Sisler’s Grave”

70. Aden Ross – “Batting Practice”

71. Lorine Parks - "Angel Stadium"

72. Hank Kalet - "Waiting for the Knuckleball to Speak"

73. Jim Garrett - "Opening Day at Ray Chapman's Grave"

74. Joseph Stanton - "Still Life with Baseball Cards (after a painting by Kyle Polzin)"

75. Mark Metzler - "Walter's Field: A Faint Scent of Praise"

By Poet:

Allison, Fallon - "Baseball and Poetry"

Batson, Joe - "Phenomenal Batting Average"

Bielawa, Michael J. - "Maybe It'll Rain Tomorrow"

Billings, Phil - "To Dan as a Three-Year Old"

Bodnar, Stephen - "Old Detroit"

Bowering, George - "Play & Work & Art"

Breen, Nancy - "Devotion"

Brice, Charles W. - "Wild Pitch"

Broaddus, Loren - "Buckner Remembers"

Brodt, Jan - "Mickey Lolich after the Fact"

Bundy, Gary - "The Blood of Baseball"

Butler, Earl - "baseball card futures"

Carney, Gene - "Rajah"

Chapman, Con - "Ichiro at George Sisler's Grave"

Charnin-Aker, Jane - "At Home on Lake Erie"

Chase, Tom - "Roland at the Horn"

Chelius, Joseph - "Journeyman Pitcher Ed Vosberg, Philadelphia Phillies, 2000"

Chicoine, Bob - "The Wrecking of Old Comiskey"

Daniels, Jim - "Baseball Cards #1

Dennison, Matt - "The Big Boys"

Dewey, Michael - "Winter Ball"

Donaghy, Daniel - "What We Talked About"

Doyle, Philip - "The Day the Gonfalon Bubble Burst"

Fehler, Gene - "Left-Handed Poetry"

Flint, Roland - "October Series"

Garrett, Jim - "Opening Day at Ray Chapman's Grave"

Gilmartin, Michael - "For the Duke of Carmel"

Graber, Ralph S. - "On the Passing of the Polo Grounds"

Harrison, R. L. - "E=RBI+R"

Harrison, WJ - "In the Bigs the Fastball Always Wins"

Hayes, Mark E. - "Throw"

Jampole, Marc - "From a Fielder's Breviary"

Janeczko, Paul B. - "Opening Day"

Johnson, Markham - "The Obsession"

Kalet, Hank - "Waiting for the Knuckleball to Speak"

Keen, Bill - "Saturday's Game"

Keyes, Robert Lord - "The Yankees"

Liberthson, Dan - "Catch"

Lowe, Daniel - "Opening Day"

Lukeman, Mark - "Dreaming Paulina"

Lynskey, Edward C. - "Getting Mad and Even"

Mahoney, Brian - "Pastime"

Marsh, William - "The Dream Team"

Martin, Dan - "The Grey Arc of a Local Hero"

Mason, L. G. - "Tiger"

McGill, William J. - "The Sadness of Moe Berg"

Meissner, Bill - "Twisters"

Metzler, Mark - "Walter's Field: A Faint Scent of Praise"

Miller, Kevin - "One Sketch at the End of the World"

Olkowski, Tom - "Growing Old in Triple A"

O'Toole, Terry - "Ozzie Smith"

Palana, Jim - "Elroy Face"

Parks, Lorine - "Angel Stadium"

Peeler, Tim - "Writing Baseball Poems in Winter or How to Make a Good Pocket in the Glove of Winter"

Petreman, David A. - "Harvey Haddix: Under the Mound"

Pitrof, Tim - "Saratoga Rain"

Quisenberry, Dan - "On Deck"

Quig, Steven - "Hunting for the Ballpark in Indianapolis"

Ragain, Major - "Blyleven's Fourth Shutout/June 19/85"

Rich, Susanna - "Squeeze Play"

Rogoff, Jay - "Over the Fence Is Out"

Romond, Edwin - "Dravecky Dreams"

Ross, Aden - "Batting Practice"

Sanders, David - "Fernando"

Schmidt, Steven - "Stopping to Watch the Ballgame (for Will Prior)"

Schraf, Mark - "I Saw Rod Scurry"

Scruton, James - "Extra Innings"

Sheehan, Tom - "In Cold Fields"

Sotis, James - "Found: The Old Mitt"

Stanton, Joseph - "Still Life with Baseball Cards (after a painting by Kyle Polzin)"

Stout, Glenn - "Whiffle Ball"

Torreson, Rodney - "Gil McDougald, Yankee Infielder"

Ward, BJ - "Upon Hearing that Baseball Is Boring to America's Youth (for Ed Romond)"

Ward, Thomas - "Degrees of Absence West of Rainier (for Dick Hugo)

Zahn, Charles H. - "Bread, Water, and Baseball"

By Title:

"Angel Stadium" - Lorine Parks

"At Home on Lake Erie" - Jane Charnin-Aker

"baseball card futures" - Earl Butler

"Baseball Poem #1" - Jim Daniels

"Baseball and Poetry" - Fallon Allison

"Batting Practice" - Aden Ross

"The Big Boys" - Matt Dennison

"The Blood of Baseball" - Gary Bundy

"Blyleven's Fourth Shutout/June 19/85" - Major Ragain

"Bread, Water, and Baseball" - Charles H. Zahn

"Buckner Remembers" - Loren Broaddus

"Catch" - Dan Liberthson

"The Day the Gonfalon Bubble Burst" - Philip Doyle

"Degrees of Absence West of Rainer (for Dick Hugo)" - Thomas Ward

"Devotion" - Jan Brodt

"Dravecky Dreams" - Edwin Romond

"Dreaming Paulina" - Mark Lukeman

"The Dream Team" - William Marsh

"Elroy Face" - Jim Palana

"Extra Innings" - James Scruton

"E+RBI = R" - R. L. Harrison

"Fernando" - David Sanders

"For the Duke of Carmel" - Michael Gilmartin

"Found: The Old Mitt" - James Sotis

"From a Fielder's Breviary" - Marc Jampole

"Getting Mad and Even" - Edward C. Lynskey

"Gil McDougald, Yankee Infielder" - Rodney Torreson

"The Grey Arc of a Local Hero" - Dan Martin

"Growing Old in Triple A" - Tom Olkowski

"Harvey Haddix: Under the Mound" - David A. Petreman

"Hunting for the Ballpark in Indianapolis" - Steven Quig

"Ichiro at George Sisler's Grave" - Con Chapman

"In the Bigs the Fastball Always Wins" - WJ Harrison

"In Cold Fields" - Tom Sheehan

"I Saw Rod Scurry" - Mark Schraf

"Journeyman Pitcher Joe Vosberg, Philadelphia Phillies, 2000" - Joseph Chelius

"Left-Handed Poetry" - Gene Fehler

"Maybe It'll Rain Tomorrow" - Michael J. Bielawa

"Mickey Lolich after the Fact" - Jan Brodt

"The Obsession" - Markham Johnson

"October Series" - Roland Flint

"Old Detroit" - Stephen Bodnar

"On Deck" - Dan Quisenberry

"One Sketch at the End of the World" - Kevin Miller

"On the Passing of the Polo Grounds" - Ralph S. Graber

"Opening Day" - Paul B. Janeczko

"Opening Day" - Daniel Lowe

"Opening Day at Ray Chapman's Grave" - Jim Garrett

"Over the Fence Is Out" - Jay Rogoff

"Ozzie Smith" - Terry O'Toole

"Pastime" - Brian Mahoney

"Phenomenal Batting Average" - Joe Batson

"Play & Work & Art" - George Bowering

"Rajah" - Gene Carney

"Roland at the Horn" - Tom Chase

"The Sadness of Moe Berg" - William J. McGill

"Saratoga Rain" - Tim Pitrof

"Saturday's Game" - Bill Keen

"Still Life with Baseball Cards (after a painting by Kyle Polzin)" - Joseph Stanton

"Stopping to Watch the Ballgame (for Will Prior)" - Steven Schmidt

"Squeeze Play" - Susanna Rich

"Throw" - Mark E. Hayes

"Tiger" - L. G. Mason

"To Dan as a Three-Year Old" - Phil Billings

"Twisters" - Bill Meissner

"Upon Hearing that Baseball Is Boring to America's Youth (for Ed Romond)" - BJ Ward

"Waiting for the Knuckleball to Speak" - Hank Kalet

"Walter's Field: A Faint Scent of Praise" - Mark Metzler

"What We Talked About" - Daniel Donaghy

"Whiffle Ball" - Glenn Stout

"Wild Pitch" - Charles W. Brice

"WinterBall" - Michael Dewey

"The Wrecking of Old Comiskey" - Bob Chicoine

"Writing Baseball Poems in Winter or How to Make a Good Pocket in the Glove of Winter" - Tim Peeler

"The Yankees" - Robert Lord Keyes