D.W. Rodgers | + Follow Poet |
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Opening Day

I can watch them again,
grown men at a children's game,
the glory of the Show
on the TV screen.

For a while
I couldn’t watch,
knowing 
I’d been close.
A phenom  
Double A at 18
90+ fastball,
but it didn’t move.
And in Triple A
and spring training
for the Show
they ate it up. 

When I tried harder
my arm blew up
rotator cuff - tendinitis
epicondylar fasciatus
Tommy John
physio, drugs, steroids.
Hope springs eternal
but nothing helped 
enough. 

Now I sit in this bar,
mush for brains 
just like my arm. 
Don’t  care that 
drugs and alcohol
don’t mix
as I watch them 
knowing almost
is worse than
never.

Copyright © D.W. Rodgers | Year Posted 2015

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Deborah Burch Date: 3/2/2017 5:42:00 PM Congratulations Dave! Well done! Hugggs deb. Login to Reply D.W. Rodgers Date: 3/3/2017 10:43:00 AM Thanks Deb

Kai Michael Neumann Date: 3/2/2017 5:00:00 AM Very painful. Drugs and alcohol do not mix, but then baseball and injuries do not either. Speedy recovery and congratulations, Kai Login to Reply D.W. Rodgers Date: 3/2/2017 7:43:00 AM Thanks Kai, it's not my story but I hope there is some truth behind it. Sorry for misclick on previous reply. D.W. Rodgers Date: 3/2/2017 7:28:00 AM Thanks Doug.

Doug Vinson Date: 3/1/2017 4:16:00 PM Whew... Dave, what a fine poem - the reality. Login to Reply D.W. Rodgers Date: 3/1/2017 6:53:00 PM Thanks Doug.

Darren White Date: 3/1/2017 3:26:00 PM Ow, I am so sorry about this.... This is such a painful poem. I hope you are okay now... Login to Reply D.W. Rodgers Date: 3/1/2017 6:52:00 PM Darren, Thanks, it's not my story but I hope there is some truth behind it.

Kim Rodrigues Date: 3/1/2017 6:52:00 AM The agony of defeated limbs! Running the bases of life is "diamond" difficult! You captured this, aspect of the game, aptly! Congrats! A wrestler, my son broke his jaw (minor thankfully!) just before he was to compete in the finals of the Olympic trials. In an unrelated tournament. Login to Reply D.W. Rodgers Date: 3/1/2017 1:56:00 PM Kim, sorry to hear of your son's trials I'm sure the broken jaw almost broke his heart, These elements and pressures are common to all sports but especially those where they are seen as a way out of a difficult life situation. I have yet to read it but am keen to read Aravind Adiga’s "Selection Day" which is about cricket of which I know almost nothing and the same pressures in contemporary India.

Phillip Garcia Date: 3/1/2017 5:45:00 AM This is a gut-wrenching poem told in a beautiful manner. Moonlight Graham minus the September call-up. I hope it's not a true story. Either way, congratulations on a fine write Login to Reply D.W. Rodgers Date: 3/1/2017 6:42:00 PM Phillip, Thanks for your contest. It's not my story but I hope there is some truth behind it. Will Carroll's book "Saving the Pitcher: Preventing Pitcher Injuries in Modern Baseball" details some of the elements and how they might be prevented.