Head Down

[w666]

"Head Down" is an essay written about the Bangor West Little Little League championships during the summer of 1989.

I don't like baseball, and so would not intentionally read an essay such as this. I didn't read it when it ran in the New Yorker. I didn't read it again when Nightmares and Dreamscapes was first published, nor when I later listened to the audio tapes.

Now this material has been re-released on audio CD, so I was excited at the chance to listen again (my cassette Walkman has long since passed on). And, true to form, I had every intention of not listening to "Head Down" again. I loaded the CDs up on my iPod (what new contraption will I have 16 years hence?) and set about the business of listening. I favor audio books these days because they afford me the luxury of being able to do something else while I'm "reading" (house work, exercise, etc.). And as a result, I now consume ~ 50 books per year compared to the relative handful of paper books I could read when dedication to the task was required.

Today I was on a long run, perhaps a half hour yet from home when I finished listening to "Suffer the Children" (god, I love that story! And I recall nostalgically the days before Columbine when it was OK to write about murdering children). I discovered then that I had already listened to all the other stories on my iPod. I had to decide whether to spend the next half hour in silence, or god forbid, listen to that "goddamned" (spoken with a Maine accent, as Steve would say it) essay about baseball.

I reluctantly chose the latter. The essay was read by the author, so I was at once both seduced and soothed. I suspended my skepticism and pretended as if it were just another SK story. The characters and the scenes were richly developed. And there was plenty of action, anticipation and suspense. Although it may have been better had there been some sort of clown who snatched away the short stop, or perhaps Randall Flagg might have made a cameo appearance to broker some sort of Faustian bargain assuring Bangor West's victory.

Now that I'm finished, however, my opinion is merely "not bad". And I still don't like baseball!

Will I now move on to read "Faithful"?. I think not....how does that old joke go?

"Do you want to see Roseann Barr in a bikini?" you ask?

"Spell 'way' " I respond.

"Way....that's W-A-Y".

"Good. Now, take the 'F' out" I counter.

"What do you mean?....there ain't no F in way!"

[w666]

*BUMP*

No one will ever see this post because of the new organization of the board <sigh>

[wally wonder]

heads-up! w666! neat-o post. glad i read it. had a friend who coulda played bb when he was 13 years old. but he had a paper route to do, did it, this during the signup meeting. well, the assistant coach said he'd save a spot for my friend. thing is, two minutes before the signup was over, in walks a man w/two boys. one spot left. guess what? my friend couldn't play.

anyway, when my friend's mother lay dying of cancer (melanoma, metastasized, nasty stuff) in walks a man (the coach from yay, all those years ago) to apologize to the mother for not playing her kid. the kid was in the other room. coach never said word one to the boy, now grown, the paper route a memory. see, the coach wanted the mother to help him get elected to local office. she wouldn't. the guy was an *******.

now, the coach dresses in wigs and dresses and turns up at uphill 41, sits at the bar, legs shaved, freshly bathed and scented, looking for the kindness of strangers, perhaps. so this essay is a neat little story about the glory days that coulda been for one reader. and as so much in life confirms the playground rule about the politics of exclusion, in the end, there must be some method to the madness of our lives, some intent.

so thank you for that refreshing post about this neat little essay about baseball.

[Dave Sartin]

didnt really enjoy it. boring. kinda just sped thorough it.

[Mr. Palmer]

I enjoyed it. I'm not a big fan of baseball, either. But I found it to be a good read.

And hey! I'd like to see Roseanne in a bikini. I remember when she offered to pose nude for HUSTLER, and Larry Flynt turned her down. Heh.

[Dave Sartin]

lmao! cant blame the guy!