school. i only hit two home runs in my career, but i had no equal when it came to standing at shortstop and chattering to my pitcher: “c’mon, baby, hum the pea.” unfortunately, when i stood at the plate, so many peas were hummed past me for strikes that i decided to let somebody else become shortstop for the yankees.
it was about that time that our high school football team won a heart-stopping game against one of the best teams in the country. while the rest of the town was tooting horns and celebrating, i went home and wrote a poem about the game. a few days later the poem 