EXTRA INNINGS
Baseball Poems
edited by Lee Bennett Hopkins & illustrated by Scott Medlock
An attractive offering that seems—as a collection of poems about baseball—to be unique: 19 high-quality entries, including a couple of excerpts (e.g., from Golenbock's Teammates); the inevitable Casey; reliables like Lillian Morrison, Patricia Hubbell, and the anthologist; and some elegantly evocative, but perfectly accessible, adult voices—Robert Francis's ``Base Stealer,'' May Swenson's splendid, ever-hypnotic ``Analysis of Baseball.'' On every spread, Medlock's handsomely constructed impressionistic oils exude color and enthusiasm, capturing the body language and facial expressions of the pros and the boys and girls of Little League with equal skill. A hit! (Poetry. 5+)