Thursday’s Poem – A former would-be major leaguer makes the play of a lifetime

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This one is by Michael Bussman:

A former would-be major leaguer makes the play of a lifetime
It was august
High altitude heat
Very blue, very hot
We were in his sister’s seats
Four rows back, the left field pavilion
The ball wasn’t hit that hard
But Campbell knew it would go
He took off like a gazelle
Cleared three rows
As if in one leap
Hit the handicapped walkway
Running full speed
Staring straight at that ball
Like the final out in the World Series
A section and a half to cover
He saw it coming down
He knew it would slip through
All those out-stretched hands
The ball bounced
Off that girl in the wheel chair’s leg
He dove
The impact almost dumped her out of the chair
He says he caught it
Before it hit the ground
Hand grasping the ball so tight
He jumped up, arms raised
Brown pants ripped at the knee
Right arm bleeding at the elbow
He gave the ball to that girl in the wheel chair
As the ushers escorted him to the exit
Banned from Coor’s field for life
They even took his picture
We caught up with him
At the bar, after the game
Beer almost empty
Beaming and proud

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