The Greatest Elegy for the Greatest Leadoff Hitter
The Greatest Elegy for the Greatest Leadoff Hitter
Robert Fillman
“Sixty stolen bases? You
ought to be ashamed. Rickey
would have sixty at the break.”
Click.
—Rickey Henderson calling to congratulate Harold Reyolds for winning the stolen base title in 1987. (Rickey was injured that year.)
I’ve heard, Don’t hate the player,
Hate the game. But I’ve never heard,
Don’t love the player. Love the game.
Rickey Henderson loved the game
and himself. He batted leadoff
in style, with that swagger and crouch,
MLB’s version of James Brown.
Because only the greatest could
frame a million-dollar check and
hang it on the wall instead of
cashing it. Because accountants
were phoning around the clock to
see what happened to Rickey’s green.
Because only the greatest could
swipe more than a hundred bases
three times, be the all-time leader
in runs scored, refer to himself
in the third person as if he
were crowned as baseball’s royal “we.”
Because only the greatest could
span four decades in the bigs. More
than a quarter century spent
stealing bags as he stole our hearts,
giving over to us more than
his body. He gave us a thrill.
Because Rickey spent all sixty-
five years being Rickey, and he
spent them fast. No statistician
could dispute that. But Rickey’s gone—
given the green light, hustling home,
and sliding harder than ever
before, and the world somehow still
believing he’ll snap right back up,
dust himself off and tip a cap.
Robert Fillman is the author of The Melting Point (Broadstone Books, 2025), House Bird (Terrapin Books, 2022), and the chapbook November Weather Spell (Main Street Rag, 2019). His poems have appeared in venues such as Poetry East, Salamander, Spoon River Poetry Review, Tar River Poetry, and Verse Daily. Fillman has received prizes for select poems from Sheila-Na-Gig Online, Third Wednesday, and The Twin Bill. An assistant professor of English at Kutztown University, he also serves on the board of Poetry-in-Transit and as poetry editor at Pennsylvania English.
Mark Mosley is a public school 7th grade math teacher. He draws baseball cards when he is not driving his son to baseball or his daughter to gymnastics. His cards can be seen on Twitter @mosley_mark, on Instagram @idrawbaseballcards, and can be purchased at https://idrawbaseballcards.bigcartel.com/
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