If God Invented Baseball

By E. Ethelbert Miller

Here are poems that celebrate and interpret the game by one of America's finest poets. They are for everyone who has experienced the magic released when three holy things come together: bat, ball and glove.

"Ethelbert Miller is one of the most significant and influential poets of our time."
--Gwendolyn Brooks

If God Invented Baseball is a complete game of baseball poems, a full nine innings pitched by a “master twirler,” whose complete arsenal includes fastballs, curves and change-ups, and the occasional knuckler, to keep readers swinging for the fences, his full artistry on display.

Ethelbert Miller's work captures the enjoyment of the game from childhood to old age. Baseball fans will place this book next to their scorecards, peanuts and beer. Poetry readers will equally be delighted.

If God Invented Baseball is a book for the ballpark and the home.

“Ethelbert's replay of baseball joys and sorrows is a must read. He brings us THE GAME with skill and grace. It is an inside the park home run”
--  Clifford Alexander 

• Language: English
• Publisher: City Point Press
• Release date: Feb 13, 2018
• ISBN: 9781947951013

E. Ethelbert Miller

E. Ethelbert Miller is a literary activist and author of two memoirs and several poetry collections. He hosts the WPFW morning radio show On the Margin with E. Ethelbert Miller and hosts and produces The Scholars on UDC-TV which received a 2020 Telly Award. Miller is Associate Editor and a columnist for The American Book Review. He was given a 2020 congressional award from Congressman Jamie Raskin in recognition of his literary activism, awarded the 2022 Howard Zinn Lifetime Achievement Award by the Peace and Justice Studies Association, and named a 2023 Grammy Nominee Finalist for Best Spoken Word Poetry Album. Miller’s latest book is How I Found Love Behind the Catcher's Mask, published by City Point Press.

Book preview

Preface

When I was growing up in the South Bronx baseball was the game I played across the street. It was in the playground next to P.S. 39. I lived at 938 Longwood Avenue on the second floor. A cousin Robert lived two floors above and possessed the name Dinky. He was two years older but ahead of his time. Dinky read books by Herman Khan, Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke.

He also loved Roberto Clemente, Tommy Davis and Don Drysdale. Dinky and I would play baseball together even when there was snow on the ground.

There is no future without baseball. There is no past either. My childhood memories will always embrace the New York Yankees of Bobby Richardson, Tony Kubek, Bill Skowron, Roger Maris, Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Hector Lopez and Elston Howard. Yes, a line-up of remembrance.

The idea for If God Invented Baseball came from David Wilk. Our mutual love of the game encouraged the writing of many of these poems.

Thanks has to be given to the people responsible for bringing baseball back to our nation’s capital. One should always have a romantic relationship with a sports team. I love the Washington Nationals with all the joy and heartbreak only a Cubs or Red Sox fan would understand.

I admire Dusty Baker and should have written this book with a toothpick in