but he disappeared
absorbed, one of multitude
who were not chosen
Re-reading Shoeless Joe by W.P. Kinsella, I came across this bit where Mr. Kinsella writes:
“Pour it on ’em, Tony,” we roared, and he tipped his cap to us as he walked off the field after pitching out of a jam. He won the game, and for years I looked for his name on some big-league roster, but he disappeared, absorbed into the heart of America. One of the multitude who was not chosen.
And it put me in mind of a ball player I saw pitch.
Growing up in the State of Michigan, my buddies and me had a tradition of going to the 2nd game of the season to see the Detroit Tigers.
Opening day in Detroit was like any opening day for any performance medium and tickets were hard to get.
But the 2nd day was sparsely attended and tickets easy to get.
In 1987, the Tigers played the New York Yankees.
For myself, this game stands out as we would get seats in the front row of the famous short porch right field upper deck of Tiger Stadium where we were right over the head of the right fielder.
Dave Winfield was playing right for the Yankees and he knelt down to tie his shoes.
I looked down and yelled, ‘Dave, they’re PITCHING.’
Winfield jumps up and looks and realizes he’d been played and he swiveled his head to look up at me, glare, and shake his head.
The Tigers took 5 runs off of Tommy John and a pitcher named Charles Hudson came in as a reliver for the Yankee’s.
I had never heard of Charles Hudson before.
But I was struck by the fact that he LOOKED LIKE A BALL PLAYER.
He pitched a nice game and the Yankees came back and won the game 6-5.
Hudson would go on to appear in 35 games that year with Yankees with an 11-7 record.
And I never heard about him again.
For me, when I heard the lines, One of the multitude who was not chosen, I thought of Charles Hudson.
Which led to the google and thebaseballcube.com where every moment of every game and career is recorded.
Hudson had a 12 year career with 5 years in the minors and 7 in the majors including appearances in a league championship series and a World Series with the 1983 Phillies.
Hudson would win 50 games in the majors.
His last year, 1989, was with the Tigers.
Sad to report that according to wikipedia: In August 1989, Hudson, while driving drunk, crashed his Mercury Cougar into a telephone pole in a Detroit suburb. Hudson broke his left leg and his right knee needed reconstructive surgery. Hudson would later discuss how he began to drink as he struggled in his baseball career.
In the book Shoeless Joe as in the movie, Field of Dreams, the career of one Archibald Wright ‘Moonlight’ Graham is part of the plot.
Graham was truly one of the multitude who was not chosen.
In 1905, at age 28, he played in one inning of one game for the New York Giants.
Never got to bat.
So close.
One of the multitude who was not chosen.
Hudson played for 7 years in the majors.
Still, One of the multitude who was not chosen.
I walk through bookstores and think of the libraries filled with books by authors unremembered and unread.
Other members of the multitude who was not chosen.
Still …
As Frank Lloyd Wright might say, “There you are.”
No Haiku For You 