A World Series/of Puns

Abstract

A World Series/of Puns Phillip Luke Sinitiere (bio) After a Cooperstown poetry workshopat Fenimore Museum with anAll-Star instructor the writerstruck out on her own. A student-athlete back in college, she caught baseballfever from her partner, whose Tommy John surgery unfortunatelydisarmed his minor league pitching career. Sometimes life throws you a c u r v e b a l l.She watched him sink into depression and noticed his foul moodbecause his prospects now looked dim. (He dug out of melancholyonce before, when his college coachchanged up the pitching rotation.) [End Page 1] "Let's go on a road trip!" she exclaimed. Like two P's in a pod, she wore a Phillieshat while he sported a vintage Piratescap. They got star treatment at LIDSin Houston when they purchasedAstros caps. In California, they foundA vintage Braves hat in A hotel roomin Oakland before they boarded aplane in terminal A for an Angelsgame in Anaheim. Then in Arizonathey went to A Diamondbacks game. On deck: a short stop in Florida,where they caught a Marlins gameto C them play the Cubs andReds in back-to-back double headers. Then in Minneapolis they gotmatching Twins hats after whichthey D'parted for Michiganto watch a Tigers matchup with theNationals who posted three W'sduring an exciting weekend series. He balked at the idea of watching anothergame; they headed home. Extra Inning:After processing a mound of experiencesfrom her trip the lyrical sabermetricianbatted around baseball analyticswith a lineup of words. [End Page 2] Phillip Luke Sinitiere phillip luke sinitiere teaches history and humanities at the College of Biblical Studies, a predominately African American school located in Houston's Mahatma Gandhi District. He is also the Scholar in Residence at the W. E. B. Du Bois Center at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. A scholar of American religious history and African American studies, his most recent book is Citizen of the World: The Late Career and Legacy of W. E. B. Du Bois (Northwestern University Press, 2019). Sinitiere's poetry has appeared in Socialism and Democracy, Edify Fiction, One Sentence Poems, Glass Mountain/Shards, and Beacon. author's note In June of 2016—the year after Craig Biggio's Hall of Fame induction, a highlight for fans of my hometown Astros—I visited the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum with my son who was playing in a Cooperstown World Series tournament. Feeling joyfully inspired that week, I wrote this poem. Copyright © 2020 University of Nebraska Press