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