Two Memories of Miguel Cabrera Two-Run Homers
Two Memories of Miguel Cabrera Two-Run Homers
By Matt Gulley
The key to longevity is to learn every aspect of music that you can – Prince
the first memory of two, comes in a haze
I was mostly drunk and alone those days
on a beat-up couch, leaning perilously forward
in Ferndale, Michigan,
August 9th, 2013
watching baseball and convincing myself
my life was full of the stuff that mattered
key interests, a good and demanding job
but it was television keeping me company
Mariano Rivera, enter sandman
on a grand retirement tour
sought to face down Miggy,
a hobbled giant on a single leg
the color commentary sang the choir
the greatest ever vs. the great of his era
and the coronation hit a hiccup
Cabrera smashed it out to tie the game
something I could text to friends
with exclamation points, and wait for reply
they would not come, I had drove them away
time leaps forward, I was
living another life it seemed
sober and content,
“the fear” put away in a hole, shoveled over
in Detroit, my home, but visiting from somewhere else
with my family, my partner, and the sun
September 12th, 2021
and here comes the man, the big man
nearing a decade past his prime, like me
and there were no high stakes
another miserable season in the books
but he came to the plate, all regardless
he still had a job, like me
and each time, the crowd leaned perilously forward
the communal sway of spectators as sunflowers
three at-bats had come and gone
strike-out, ground-out, and struck-out again
and these games, these days
they go on long, don’t they?
and here he comes again,
still commanding the fingers to grip
the bat of his, that heavy wand
and all the fingers on cups and seats
and smash again, out of the park
beyond the wall, to raise the squall
we all went home happy
I always used to go home scared
and today, April 23rd, 2022
I am moved to write about these feats
because the man, the big man Miggy
has hit a ball three thousand times
and ever-the-journalist, I fact-check myself
only to find, on that day in September
he hadn’t gone long at all,
just a well-placed single to advance two men
but what had happened that day,
was less about the true facts stated
and like all of sports, and all endeavor
was about what I chose instead to remember
because it tells a better story
about where I was and where I am
so thank you, Miguel Cabrera,
and out of great love, and respect,
I will not be changing the title
of this piece, because to me
most important of all,
it remains the truth, and always will be thus –
Matt Gulley is 34 years old. He attended Wayne State University in Detroit and the MFA program at Long Island University in Brooklyn. He currently resides in Brooklyn with his girlfriend Jenna and tries to write a little bit every day.
Jason David Córdova lives in Puerto Rico as an illustrator and painter. Some of his art can be seen on Instagram at @jasoni72. You can visit his shop on Red Bubble.
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