October 10, 1957

 October 10, 1957

By Mark Lucius

Later I’ll learn details
The Yankees load the bases in the ninth
Yankee luck they call it
Yankee luck and Yankee pluck  
But luck runs out with a grounder to Mathews
Who steps on third
The ultimate force play   
 
I’ll memorize
Spahnie is down with the flu, Lew
So Milwaukee (Casey called it Bushville)
Wins on the wing of
Burdette Burdette Burdette again  
First pitcher to win three games in the Fall Classic
Since 1920
The year my father was born    
 
In Baseball-by-the-Day I’ll find a fact almost forgotten
Henry Aaron first African-American to hit three home runs on October’s stage
It was before he moved to the same suburb we did
Which I thought was cool
Some did not  
 
Have you seen your mother baby standing in the shadows
Now I see my mother in the shadows of
Our narrow flat
Me running from kindergarten
Shirt buttoned to my neck
Sweating
Like Mathews like Burdette like Aaron
Listening to Mom tell me a thing I’ve never heard before
Mark—
The Braves won the series
The Braves won the World Series

Mark Lucius worked in corporate communications for 45 years, which included more than two decades as speechwriter and counselor to two chief executive officers. He won five Cicero Awards from Vital Speeches of the Day. His personal writing has appeared in the Great River Review, Hippocampus, Longridge Review, On the Premises and other publications. His long-form memoir of caddying for women’s professional golf pioneer Patty Berg was selected for inclusion in Best American Sports Writing. He and his wife, Barbara, live in Milwaukee.

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