Early Innings

Early Innings

A short story about Rickey Henderson’s night after breaking the stolen base record. An interview with Mets legend Darryl Strawberry. An essay by a British fan about gravitating toward the Blue Jays Home Run Jacket. Art of a shirtless Henry David Thoreau swinging a bat in Walden Pond. A poem where the ghost of Moses Fleetwood Walker talks to Ernie Banks. A comic about the unheralded journeyman Matt Duffy. The Twin Bill’s Early Innings (.406 Press, March 18, 2025) features all of these and more as it celebrates the rich history of baseball and the vibrant game of today with this anthology of their first four years.

With over 200 pages of baseball poems, short stories, creative nonfiction, and full-page color illustrations, Early Innings showcases the rich literary side of baseball. Featuring 29 poems, 16 pieces of creative nonfiction, nine short stories, two interviews, two comics, and cover art of Sidd Finch, Early Innings is sure to be a hit with any baseball fan.

Praise for Early Innings

“Like a box of ballpark Cracker Jack, there’s a delightful surprise on every page of The Twin Bill’s Early Innings. This is a collection to be savored, a loving and lyrical celebration of the art of baseball.” – Tyler Kepner, The Athletic

“Early Innings is a sold out ballpark filled with writers and illustrators. The poems are stories, the stories are pictures and the pictures are memorable. The love for baseball begins in childhood and never grows old. There are many innings of love here. Some of the contributors bring the heat or know how to write for a high average. This is a collection that captures the smell and sounds of the game. I suggest you find a bookmark and pray for extra innings. Four years of The Twin Bill is not enough.”
– E. Ethelbert Miller, Grammy-nominated poet and author of the If God Invented Baseball trilogy

“In four short years, The Twin Bill has become an institution on the sports literary scene. There’s only one other way legends are created so quickly, through our great game—baseball. A Hall of Fame trajectory can be charted after a few great seasons, and Early Innings makes a very convincing case for The Twin Bill. Whenever I read Scott Bolohan’s magazine, it’s like hearing a chorus form from the individual static particles pushing through the bands of my transistor radio, making me feel less alone while listening to the ballgame in a faraway place. Someone else is yelling at their team, clutching the bill of their cap, wringing their hands. These writers and artists are not only fans and players of baseball, but they have the capability to elucidate and elevate the game—its metaphors, philosophies, and mysteries. As AJ Speier-Wallace says in his ‘Interview With My Rotator Cuff’ featured here, ‘your arm is everything you have.’ The writers and artists in Early Innings have certainly made the most of theirs. Fortunately, us readers are using our eyes and ears as well to take this game in.” – Sandra Marchetti, author of Aisle 228 and DIORAMA