Once upon a Time My father Ogden Nash grew up in Rye New York in the early 1900s My grandfather made a point of taking him to all the baseball games he could in the area even when my father was supposed to stay at home in bed with a summer cold It was then that my father’s passionate love of the game was born a love that ended only with his death in 1971 father at old Oriole Park in the early 1940s The crunch of peanut shells between my I shall always remember the hot summer days of my own childhood spent with my fingers the sing-song calls of the vendors the hot dogs that tasted better than any other hot dogs and at last the staccato cry of Play ball The Nashes were avid fans of Jack Dunn’s International League Orioles and we were ecstatic when they won the Little World Series in 1944 We always sat on the first base side a lineup of Nashes my father my sister Isabel me and my mother Frances Both my parents kept score faithfully and taught Isabel and me the intricacies of doing so ourselves I still equate 4
Tinker to Evers to Chance with 6-4-3 and the letter K will always remind me of Casey’s disastrous third strike Dad told Isabel and me many tales of the famous players of old some of whom appear in Lineup We especially liked the Orioles players he described Wee Willie Keeler and his teammates Hughie Jennings and John McGraw Wilbert Robinson and Roger Bresnahan and the immortal Babe Ruth a Baltimore native All of the names in Lineup are wonderfully familiar to me The only player not in the Hall of Fame is Bobo Newsom and I’m sure Dad would think this an oversight He loved Ol Bobo and believed that in his case eccentricity overshadowed very real talent leading many to undervalue Newsom’s career Many years later after my father’s death Mother would look forward to Larry King’s annual recitation of Lineup for Yesterday on late-night radio at the opening of each baseball season When I read the Lineup poems now I can find myself for a moment back at old Oriole Park on a golden summer day I can hear the crack of a bat the hush of expectation before the roar of the crowd and my father yelling Yay-ay-ay-ay as he jumps up to cheer the man on third home Linell Nash Smith 5
A is for Alex The great Alexander More Goose eggs he pitched Than a popular gander Grover Cleveland Alexander Position Pitcher Major-League Seasons 1911 30 Teams Philadelphia Phillies Chicago Cubs St Louis Cardinals Batted Right Threw Right Height 6-foot-1 Weight 185 pounds Career Numbers 373 wins 208 losses 2 56 ERA
B is for Bresnahan Back of the plate The Cubs were his love And McGraw his hate Roger Philip Bresnahan Position Catcher Major-League Seasons 1897 1900 15 Teams Washington Senators Chicago Orphans Cubs Baltimore Orioles New York Giants St Louis Cardinals Batted Right Threw Right Height 5-foot-9 Weight 200 pounds Career Numbers 279 BA 26 HR 530 RBI 7
