Bards of baseball dabble in verse
September 16th, 2009
Originally found at http://mlb.mlb.com/news/
written by Jonathan Mayo
Some players write poetry, others read for escape.
Marcus Lemon, former AAU Baseball player, now playing AA b
all for Frisco, Texas.
The great American poet Walt Whitman once said, “I see great things in baseball.” Who knew that baseball could see great things in poetry as well?
It’s not a marriage one would expect to see, is it, poetry and the professional athlete? But there isn’t a truer adage in baseball than that you see something new every time you go to a game.
Some players like to read the classics; others prefer more modern works. There are those who not only read, but also craft their own prose. There’s a lot of down time over the course of the long baseball season, and there’s a group, small as it may be, that fills at least some of that time with poetry. They are the bards of baseball……The son of a big leaguer
When Marcus Lemon meets people, he often doesn’t tell people he’s a baseball player. He’ll describe himself as an artist — he’s an accomplished one who often does portraits of teammates’ families — or someone who likes to write. It allows him to be free of any pigeonholing someone might instinctively do when they hear he’s a professional athlete.
“I like it because it makes me feel like I’m not just a baseball player,” said Lemon, the son of Chet Lemon. “It’s not just about baseball. It’s a whole other side of me I can do.”
Wherever Lemon goes, he brings books with him, so he can record his thoughts whenever he needs to. It’s something that began when his high school teacher gave him a book while he was playing on a high school travel team. He has filled volumes since, talking about achievements as well as sadness.
It provided great solace for him when his father was gravely ill a few years ago. Lemon wrote about his feelings during that time in a powerful 710-word piece he called “Farewell Father,” an excerpt of which he has allowed to run with this story.
“It’s a proactive way to express myself,” said Lemon, who was truly touched that those he showed this poem felt they could understand his emotions. “It’s an outlet.”
He’s written about Hurricane Katrina and even about the travails of trying to fulfill a dream of making it to the big leagues. It’s not often these bards use the game itself as inspiration, instead choosing poetry as a means to show a different side of themselves. But sometimes, at least for Lemon, it’s a way to get out his frustrations from a game where getting a hit 30 percent of the time is deemed successful.”You fail more than you succeed and still be one of the best,” Lemon said. “It’s an outlet to not do something you’d regret. I travel a lot. Sometimes it’s hard to find a person to talk to, so it’s easier to just jot down things.”
Excerpt from “Farewell Father”
Farewell Father (excerpt)
By Marcus Lemon, 2006
My brother Tupac
Wrote a song for his mother
Now I’m here
To say farewell to my father
Its tough
Trying to love him at times
But that’s now in my past
That’s far behind
When I started writing this
I was filled with rage
But I’m past that stage
I’ve turned the page
To a new chapter
A new form of literature
Let me give you a better picture
I want to hate, sometimes run away
Just peace between us, I pray
Then maybe his death bed wouldn’t appear
Marcus Lemon, son of MLB great, Chet Lemon, began playing AAU Baseball from the time he was 9-years-old. The senior Lemon is now the District Director for Florida AAU Baseball, and is a former AAU Baseball National Chairperson. Marcus played this year for Frisco, Texas, an AA minor league club. He has a very promising baseball career ahead of him.
