{"id":3682,"date":"2023-03-27T17:49:09","date_gmt":"2023-03-27T21:49:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/?p=3682"},"modified":"2023-03-27T17:49:09","modified_gmt":"2023-03-27T21:49:09","slug":"celebrating-baseball-poetry-with-chris-arvidson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/blog\/2023\/03\/27\/celebrating-baseball-poetry-with-chris-arvidson\/","title":{"rendered":"Celebrating Baseball Poetry with Chris Arvidson<\/strong>"},"content":{"rendered":"
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For Chris Arvidson, now is a special time of the year.\u00a0 As a lifelong baseball fan, Chris is looking forward to March 30, which is Opening Day for Major League Baseball\u2019s 2023 season.\u00a0 As a Charlotte poet, Chris is also looking forward to April, which is National Poetry Month.\u00a0 Chris\u2019s love of baseball and her interest in writing poetry are reflected in her two most recent books.\u00a0 In 2017, she published a co-edited volume titled The Love of Baseball:\u00a0 Essays by Lifelong Fans<\/em>.\u00a0 In 2022, she published a poetry collection titled The House Inside My Head<\/em>.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/em>For readers who want to know more about Chris and her publications, please click on the following link:\u00a0 https:\/\/www.chrisarvidson.com\/index.htm<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I contacted Chris and asked her how she is preparing for this special week.\u00a0 Here is what she sent to me:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have been searching for some Faygo Red Pop, and I\u2019m dismayed to find that neither Harris Teeter nor Publix seems to carry it any longer. Red Pop, a Detroit original, is my favored choice of beverage for opening day. I shall persevere and figure out where to find it before March 30, when my Detroit Tigers play their first game of the season. On March 31, I\u2019ll be at the Charlotte Knights ballpark, in glorious anticipation of the summer to come. I cannot deny that I tear-up for the national anthem that first Spring outing\u2026every time. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just last week, I stumbled upon The National Baseball Poetry Festival on Facebook. The organizers are throwing a weekend-long baseball poetry event based at a Boston Red Sox AAA affiliate in Worcester, MA. Events include a poetry contest, ballpark tours, an open mic\u2026 not bad for a first-year event. You can see more about the festival at: <\/em>baseballpoetryfest.org<\/em><\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It really made me think–Worcester? Really? Charlotte could TOTALLY do something like this. Maybe even expand it to a whole writing-about-baseball thing, that wouldn\u2019t just be poetry. Although this most poetic of sports certainly does lend itself in that direction. So far, my husband, Henry, thinks it\u2019s a great idea, and Jay Ward, Charlotte\u2019s first poet laureate, sees merit, too. So, stay tuned. I might just see what I can cook up.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I also asked Chris if she would be willing to share examples of her own baseball poems, and she agreed to do so.  The first poem that she provided is about Frances Crockett, the woman who served as the General Manager of the Charlotte O\u2019s.  The Charlotte O\u2019s was the AA affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles from 1976 to 1987.  She was the first woman General Manager in professional baseball.  Here is Chris\u2019s poem:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dear Frances Crockett<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Chris Arvidson<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just about every day<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I walk around the ballpark<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where flags with the pictures of past<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ballplayers, owners, and managers wave to me<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The legends of Charlotte baseball.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yours is my favorite – the only woman<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You look so serious and businesslike<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So smart and professional<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your blond hair stylish and smooth<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not how I remember you.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I see you decades ago out at the old ballpark<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The wooden one that sometimes burned<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

That sat in the middle of a middle-class neighborhood<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through the open door of the rickety trailer near the front gate<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

That served as your general manager\u2019s office.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019re sitting at a beat-up old desk<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A huge fluffy white dog at your feet<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And do I recall a cigarette in one waving hand?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The other holding a phone to your ear<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As you conducted the team\u2019s business.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(This poem appeared in \u201c<\/em>Nine: A Journal of Baseball History & Culture\u201d Vol. 30 Nos. 1-2, Fall\/Spring 2021-22.)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second poem that Chris shared with me is about Ryan Ripken, a minor-league baseball player.  He is the son of baseball legend Cal Ripken, Jr., who played for the Charlotte O\u2019s in 1980.   Here is Chris\u2019s poem:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hello Ryan Ripken (For Robyn)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Chris Arvidson<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ryan Ripken came up to bat last night<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The designated hitter for the Norfolk Tides<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Baltimore\u2019s AAA farm team.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fluttering in the tepid breeze outside the park<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A banner sporting his father\u2019s young face flew<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A nostalgic image from Cal the legend\u2019s tenure as a Charlotte Oriole.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ryan\u2019s twenty-eight now<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It looks like Grandpa, Uncle Billy, and Ironman Dad<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Will post the big-time family\u2019s big-league careers without him.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

He stands tall at bat in the farm team uniform<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And takes up more physical space at the plate<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Than the other famous Ripkens.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wonder if he saw that flag on his way into the ballpark tonight<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Snapping in the wind over the players\u2019 entrance.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I thank Chris for sharing her baseball poems and for her many contributions to our community.  When it comes to doing her part to make Storied Charlotte a more interesting place to live, Chris is always ready to play ball.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For Chris Arvidson, now is a special time of the year.\u00a0 As a lifelong baseball fan, Chris is looking forward to March 30, which is Opening Day for Major League Baseball\u2019s 2023 season.\u00a0 As a Charlotte poet, Chris is also looking forward to April, which is National Poetry Month.\u00a0 Chris\u2019s love of baseball and her […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":202,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-storied-charlotte"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3682","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/202"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3682"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3682\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3684,"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3682\/revisions\/3684"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}