Posted By:
Julie...the most natural man ever to
spiked shoes.
The canniest fielder and the longest hitter,
Who squatted on his heels
In a uniform muddied to the knees,
Till the bleacher shadows grew long behind him.
Who went along with Chick and Buck (sic) and Happy
Because they treated him so friendly-like,
Hardly like Yankees at all.
With Williams because Lefty was from the South too.
And with Risberg because the Swede was such a hard guy.
Who made an X for his name and couldn't argue with
Comiskey's sleepers.
But who could pick a line drive out of the air ten feet
Outside the foul line
And rifle it home from anywhere in the park.
For Shoeless Joe is gone, long gone,
A long yellow grass-blade between his teeth
And the bleacher shadows behind him..."
--Nelson Algren, from "Swede is a hard guy"
(name later changed, but I've forgotton what to)