“I was moving away from my pure, single-minded love of baseball, moving away from childhood itself,”

That line reminded me of that fact that I never imitated the Quiz’s pitching motion like I had so many others when throwing a tennis ball at a wall. While I still kept up with the game at that point in my youth I had outgrown the need to emulate the cardboard gods of the day. Man, I wish I had just once tried a submarine pitch like the Quiz.

Michael said…
Brilliant.

Have you read Roger Angell’s piece on Quisenberry?

8:54 AM

Josh Wilker said…
Hey Michael,

Thanks a lot for the encouraging comments. I appreciate it. I’ve read a lot of Roger Angell’s stuff but I don’t think I’ve read his Quisenberry article. Looks like it’s in the book Season Ticket, which I’ll hunt down in the ol’ public library when I return my current baseball read, Hank Aaron And The Home Run That Changed America, by Tom Stanton.

Josh

10:36 AM

Ellen said…
I have the book of Phil Rizzuto poetry, but not Quiz’s. i would get it at the library if I ever went there, I suppose.
sigh.

10:07 PM

Ian said…
That Rizzuto book was a work of genius; It’s still in throneroom-reading rotation for me.

Somewhere in the last few unpacked boxes in our house lurks a fat, yellowing stack of the Dolan boys’ baseball haikus. What a worthy companion to Cardboard Gods that would be.

11:27 AM

Max said…
Just beautiful. A nice tribute.

1:34 PM

peterk said…
nicely done.

8:09 PM