Kevin Baker's book is here!

Kevin Baker's book is here!
"... an exemplary sports book..." Kirkus Reviews

Saturday, July 12, 2014

Hello Darkness, my old friend, I've come to talk with you again...

Pssssst, hey, Deion! Is it really you? I'd recognize that hair anywhere. Be careful. That's long enough to make old man Steinbrenner set down some rules.

Wait a minute. Saxy? What are you doing here? And look, there's Bam Bam, and Balboni, and Jesse Barfield, whom we got a trade for some nobody, Al Somethingorother, who cares? And holy crap! It's Mel Hall, the pride of Penn Yan! Mel, I thought you were in jail? But here you are, with your cougars.

You've come back. For what? Can you speak a little louder? I can't hear over the incessant boos.

You're here for "the boys." I don't understand. The "sons." Ohhh, you must mean Hank and Hal, the Steinbrenner kids. Well, they're not boys any more. What business do you have with them? I mean, it's been almost 25 years.

Can you speak louder? Wait, the crowd is emptying out. Ah, much better. It was really hard to hear you with people in the stadium. Now that they've all left, it's much easier.

You're here to tell us something? You're back to remind us?

Yeah, I know what fate is. And, yes, I do know about fathers and sons. I've been both.

Wait, there's Luis Polonia! And Pascual Perez! Hey, Pascual, how's Melido!

What's that? Destiny? You're saying we are destined to relive our father's legacies. Hm-mm. I don't know. I've wondered about it. Are we just carbon copies of our dads, and are our own kids fated to chase the same follies that we once did? Are we, as Yankee fans, simply destined to watch the franchise flounder and fall? Was this always a certainty? Did it have to happen?

Wait a minute. Don't go! Claudell, come back! Kevin Maas, stick around. You know, I thought you were going to be a great Yankee hitter someday...

Wait... you're not Alvaro Espinosa? It's you, Yangervis! And Zelous! And Ichiro! Was I dreaming? It was so lifelike. You were in the dream... and you, and you. What happened? What year is it? Hey, have you seen Kramer Vs. Kramer? No, I'm not talking about Seinfeld. Have you heard Vanilla Ice? That guy, he's the next Springsteen!

No comments: