Bob Bates — Mark Richardson’s moving essay entitled “My Mom, Baseball, and Me,” published previously on Wise Guys, is my motivation for posting this baseball poem I wrote about someone very dear to me. The poem is a combination tribute and eulogy to Jeanette “Jeanie” Sotka Hofmeister, who married my cousin Daryl “Sonny” Hofmeister in 1954. In his baseball-playing days, Sonny was a slugging outfielder … Continue reading Jeanie’s Hope
Mark Richardson — I came to baseball, or baseball came to me, as a very young boy. My dad was never much of a baseball fan, at least until he was in his 60s and he discovered the entertainment that was Harry Caray’s broadcasting, but my mom was an avid Chicago Cubs fan all her life. Her grandpa (my Great-grandpa Cashore), her dad (my Grandpa … Continue reading My Mom, Baseball, and Me
Mark Richardson — I made my first visit to Wrigley Field as a 12 year old boy in 1968. I entered through the street gate and found myself in a large, dank cement enclosure that resembled somebody’s basement, writ large. There were concession stands selling food and souvenirs all along the walls, and stands set up in the center selling scorecards and pencils. We went … Continue reading Wrigley Field
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