The Polo Grounds was a strange place for a man to die.
Across the way at 515 Edgecombe Avenue,
14-year-old Robert Mario Peebles' enthusiasm
for the 4th of July hit just above Barney Doyle's eye,
killing him instantly as he watched infield practice.
He never got to see the game.
Thirty years earlier, a fellow everyone considered to be
a mean bastard delivered a fatal pitch submarine-style.
Back on the farm, his daddy had taught Carl Mays never to back down.
Ray Chapman never got up.
No, wait, after being hit with a dirty, hard-to-see ball
with an impact so loud that Mays thought it was a hit,
Ray Chapman got up, fell, rose, and fell again on the baseline.
"Tell Mays I'm all right," were his last words.
Ray Chapman was a man with the world on a string.
Good-looking, friendly Ray, playing out one last season
at the sport he loved, was newly married and set up in a good job.
He even got on well with quarrelsome Ty Cobb
who was said to have killed a man in Detroit.
The world was his oyster.
In a New York hospital, Ray Chapman got better, then worse,
then was gone forever. His widow lived just eight more years herself.
Carl Mays never felt he had done anything wrong
on a dusty diamond July 4th, 1920 in Manhattan, New York City.
The Polo Grounds was a strange place for a man to die.
_________
for What's Going On? An Historical Moment.
Music: Jeff Buckley I Know It's Over
I love that you found the memorial tablet for Ray Chapman. Your first pitcher had childish "enthusiasm" and the other was "a mean bastard," whose ball hit "with an impact so loud that Mays [the bastard] thought it was a hit." Truly "a strange place for a man to die": A child at play, a man at a dangerous sport. You brought me there. I felt and heard the impact.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Susan. This one required a few days to get right. The child at play shot a gun from an apartment building down into the Polo Grounds, hitting and killing a fan. The boy hadn't meant to hurt anyone, he was just celebrating the 4th of July. Oops.
DeleteThese stories are amazing to read, taking us back to those times. The child with the gun - so very sad. The man who never thought he did anything wrong, that cost a man's life - there's a lot of that going around these days. Sigh. A very interesting read, Shay.
ReplyDeleteA playground should never be a place to die. So sad. In cricket field also we once lost a fine Indian cricketer by being hit by a nasty ball. However that 4th July enthusiasm is all the more shocking!
ReplyDeleteI first learned about this incident with Chapman and Mays when I read John Grisham’s novel a while back, Calico Joe, which is said to have inspired it. Mays mental health was obviously frightening. How do you not have remorse for such an action with this terrible consequence? I was thoroughly engrossed in your superb storytelling, learning more than I knew before. Is there anything you can’t write about and make into a fantastic poem?
ReplyDeleteWhat a strong poem! After reading your response to Susan's comment I see that the death of Barney Doyle wasn't much of an accident at all, if Robert had shot him with a gun! 4th of July accident? Ha! And I really felt sorry for Ray Chapman being hit by the ball. And Carl Mays not thinking he did something wrong. Yup, there seem to be a lot of people in the world today like that. Not backing down, despite other evidence. I had not known this story, and the way you told it let me to want to delve into the story more!
ReplyDeleteI wonder if anyone ever died at Fenway, other than spiritually, that moment when Buckner bobbled the ball between his legs in game six vs. the Mets, one out to put the series away!! (Buckner was super bitter about it, like everyone blamed him for decades. Finally they had a "We forgive you Bill" thing at Fenway and everyone cheered him and he felt better. But still...)
ReplyDeleteCan't believe I missed this poem, Shay! I love it, giving me a sense of the drama on a baseball field in those moments of history. Your storytelling abilities are as good in poetry as in prose, and this visit to the dark side of human nature gave me chills.
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