Baseball Is … by Louise Borden (review)

Borden shares her devotion to baseball in this free-verse paean to America’s pastime. The focus is on major league baseball, with only the slightest nod to the sandlot players, student athletes, Little Leaguers, office teammates, and other amateurs with cleats on the ground, but even slugs who bask in the peanuts and hot dogs and sunshine will understand the bliss. Unfortunately, the title amounts to little more than lists of definitions, observations and descriptions: “Baseball is wide gates to a swirl of noise,/ ticket takers,/ ticket stubs,/ and vendors,/ selling souvenirs”; “Baseball is nine innings, and sometimes more,/ with a top and a bottom for each.” Occasionally, though, a verse rises well above the quotidian with a genuine flash of poetic power hitting: “Baseball is a crescendo of joy that fills the stands./ And baseball is/ sudden silence./ The hush of error.” Colón’s grainy, atmospheric paintings, though often prone to chaotic composition, manage to capture more of the passion of the game, particularly as experienced by fans and stadium staff. Moreover, Colón highlights players, sportscasters, teams, and stadiums from across the country and over time, inviting young fans to search for their favorites and vie with their peers for the title of baseball cognoscente. This won’t substitute for an afternoon on the field or in the stands, but it may just help some kids keep their spirits up until opening day.