Bad Hops

and a pal in Danville

were Appy League crapouts

and still moan 40 years later.

My boyhood barber

played third

and hit .340 in class D.

World War 2 scrambled his eggs.

Our j.v. basketball coach made class B

as a Dodger outfielder.

His knee made an operating table-

a permanent limp his bonus.

One old catcher from 20 miles away

wore purple hearts on his fingers;

he averaged over .300

atrophying in the Texas League,

IL, and American Association.

His big moment was Toledo in '37

when the Tigers picked Birdie Tebbetts

to replace Mickey Cochrane

instead of him.

The dad of a high school mate

won a Sally League batting title

(when the league was double A)

and went to the Senators at the end

of '55 for a 'taste'.

He had time to snapshot

babyfaced Harmon Killebrew

and Mantle horsing around in BP

but must've been too busy

to activate and use.

Sometimes bad hops really gall

and sometimes spheres bounce true.

Sometimes you grip a baseball

which ends up gripping you.

Dan Grey Taylor Jr.