After watching 'Moneyball', the baseball movie starring Brad Pitt, the other night, I got to
thinking about how often baseball features in American movies. A lot.
And it's never just about baseball, no, on the contrary, the game acts a potent metaphor for the film's
themes and plotlines, usually - how to play the game of life.
But here in this poem, May Swenson takes baseball and does something else with it entirely - in a
commentator's tone, she explains (playfully) what goes on technically in the game, the physical acts
of it, with the main idea being that it is a game of fun, played with love.
of it, with the main idea being that it is a game of fun, played with love.
But I can't help but thinking it's about something more too. Something to do with living, yes.
Especially those last few lines. How about you?
Especially those last few lines. How about you?
Analysis of Baseball - May Swenson
It’s about
the ball,
the bat,
and the mitt.
Ball hits
bat, or it
hits mitt.
Bat doesn’t
hit ball, bat
meets it.
Ball bounces
off bat, flies
air, or thuds
ground (dud)
or it
fits mitt.
Bat waits
for ball
to mate.
Ball hates
to take bat’s
bait. Ball
flirts, bat’s
late, don’t
keep the date.
Ball goes in
(thwack) to mitt,
and goes out
(thwack) back
to mitt.
Ball fits
mitt, but
not all
the time.
Sometimes
ball gets hit
(pow) when bat
meets it,
and sails
to a place
where mitt
has to quit
in disgrace.
That’s about
the bases
loaded,
about 40,000
fans exploded.
It’s about
the ball,
the bat,
the mitt,
the bases
and the fans.
It’s done
on a diamond,
and for fun.
It’s about
home, and it’s
about run.
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