Philip Martin

Ray Chapman, Killed by Pitch August 16, 1920

I had it in my mind to bunt
But something in the crowd distracted me
A wrinkle in the hazel sea. 

High and tight, underhanded heat
I never saw.
The sound 
A whitesick pop.
The ground.
Carl Mays looking down.
A bruised baseball rolling to the second baseman's feet. 

I got up and took my base,
A warm rivulet on my face.

(photo by Leah Lynn)