Baseball Is by Greg Hall

This is a superb poem written by Greg Hall which was featured on ESPN Radio during the 2000 season. The poem pays tribute to several aspects of the game and tells what one fan believes "Baseball Is."

Baseball Almanac Top Quote

"Baseball is Willie vs Mickey, Gibson vs Koufax, and Buddy Biancalana vs the odds." - Greg Hall

Baseball Is

Baseball Field

by Greg Hall ©

Baseball is grass, chalk, and dirt displayed the same yet differently
In every park that has ever heard the words play ball.
Baseball is a passion that bonds and divides all those who know it.
Baseball is a pair of hands stained with newsprint,
A set of eyes squinting to read a boxscore,
A brow creased in an attempt to recreate a three-hour game
From an inch square block of type.
Baseball is the hat I wear to mow the lawn.
Baseball is a simple game of catch
and the never-ending search for the perfect knuckleball.
Baseball is Willie vs Mickey, Gibson vs Koufax, and Buddy Biancalana vs the odds.
Baseball links Kansan and Missourian, American and Japanese,
But most of all father and son.
Baseball is the scent of spring,
The unmistakable sound of a double down the line,
And the face of a 10-year-old emerging from a pile of bodies
With a worthless yet priceless foul ball.
Baseball is a language of very simple words that tell unbelievably magic tales.
Baseball is three brothers in the same uniform on the same team for one brief summer
Captured forever in a black and white photo on a table by the couch.
Baseball is a glove on a shelf, oiled and tightly wrapped,
Slumbering through the stark winter months.
Baseball is a breast pocket bulging with a transistor radio.
Baseball is the reason there are transistor radios.
Baseball is a voice in a box describing men you've never met,
In a place you've never been,
Doing things you'll never have the chance to do.
Baseball is a dream that you never really give up on.
Baseball is precious.
Baseball is timeless.
Baseball is forever.

Baseball Is by Greg Hall ©
baseball almanac flat baseball

baseball almanac fast facts

A never ending search for a perfect knuckleball — who do you think the author had in mind? Could a perfect knuckleball be thrown? Share your thoughts in our forum.

Who is the author? Greg Hall is a former Kansas City Star sports columnist. Hall grew up rooting for the Nebraska Cornhuskers, Willie Mays, Jim Ryun, and Dick Butkus' Bears. He and his family are now entrenched in Kansas City scene cheering for area sports teams like the Royals, Chiefs, Blades, Wizards, Attack and the Big 12 Conference schools.

The author of the poem has his own web page. Visit it today and please let him know you saw his poem here at Baseball Almanac.