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Saturday, 14 January 2006 19:38 |
#84
Rhythm-A-Ning
for paul lichter & the great ernie harwell
it's the top
of the 5th, two men
on & monk
on the mound
to face the meat
of the defending champion
new york tenors
batting order it's the
rhythm
inning, time now
to get something
going & at the plate
for the tenors,
digging in deep now,
center fielder sonny rollins
(also known as newk
for his remarkable resemblance
to the great don newcombe)
is taking his cuts. rollins
checks the sign from arnett cobb at 3rd
& takes a called first strike
right down the middle. on the basepaths,
the leadoff batter,
johnny griffin, dances off 2nd
& james moody takes a short lead
off of 1st. on deck,
the clean-up hitter,
fellow native of north carolina,
veteran of many hard seasons
in the minor leagues,
john coltrane picks up his bat,
weights it,
& pounds the air without mercy.
monk
checks the runners,
shakes off the sign
from art blakey
behind the plate, nods,
stretches & delivers
a most wicked curve
& newk strikes air. the fans know
if monk can get past rollins
there ll be one down,
coltrane up & coleman hawkins
waiting on deck. so monk
looks in,
puts that rocky mount grip
on the ball, & sends newk back
to the bench
with a deadly screwball. trane fans,
& bean dribbles one down
to john birks gillespie at 1st. diz
steps on the bag & monk
puts another inning away
toward an eventual shut-out
of the defending champs. in the bottom
of the 8th, miles davis is hit
by a pitch,
steals 2nd,
bud powell draws an in-
tentional pass, & bird
puts the game away
with a 3-run homer. the series
goes to the challenger,
the bebop all-stars,
4 games to 3
& monk is voted most
valuable player
over dizzy gillespie
in the closest of votes. the year
is 1954, the legendary subway series
is now history,
& baseball,
dear friends,
will never be the same
detroit
may 1, 1985
special thanks to peter klaver & martin gross
3.1.696 |
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