*

William Harney (far left) has just retired as a professor of English at Endicott College where I teach. Harney’s poetry has appeared in Ibbetson Street, the Lyrical Somerville and other publications. He is a very generous, salt of the earth gentleman. He extended a branch of friendship to me early on and has been a font of information about Endicott, BEAT literature, teaching, etc… He was always willing to help with any problems that I may have had during my stint here. I know that we will all miss him.

William Harney (far left).

Eephus Pitcher

I think of how Lee nicknamed Zim “The Gerbil,”

How, on a trip to Cuba to play the game for fun,

He packs tubes of hair care product to give Havana’s taxi drivers

(They’ll use it in place of banned automotive supplies

To keep their aging GM cars going).

How he gives away old wooden bats to young boys

Who need them for pick-up games in vacant lots all over Cuba.

How he loves the old Cuban players and their skills

And still runs out plays, despite his damaged knees.

How he rides in backseats without legroom or on buses on poor roads

To play baseball with anyone who loves the game as much as he does.

And, for a moment, I’m as happy as I was as a boy

When my father first threw the slow arcing pitch to me

Telling me the story of Rip Sewell and the Splendid Splinter,

Happy as Bill Lee must have been decades later

Throwing the same moon ball to Tony Perez three consecutive at-bats

Defying logic and his Red Sox handlers to enter

One way or the other the permanent lore.

— William Harney

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