Poet in the Grandstand

<P class=MsoNormal style=MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify>In the area of ballpark hopping there have been a number of accounts written recorded or talked about in recent times sometimes for a cause or others just as a gimmick.<SPAN style=mso-spacerun: yes>  </SPAN>Through <I style=mso-bidi-font-style: normal>Poet in the Grandstand</I> poet and writer Thomas Porky McDonald gives us a most unique twist on a preoccupation which has grown in the past few decades in the wake of the closings of classic old yards and the birth of the more entertainment and nostalgia driven open-air parks.<SPAN style=mso-spacerun: yes>  </SPAN>From his first trip in 1990 to the fabled Comiskey Park of Shoeless Joe Jackson Bill Veeck and the Go-Go Sox on through to the 2010 opening of Minnesota's fabulous Target Field featuring the modern M&M Boys Joe Mauer and Justin Mourneau McDonald offers up a book that is part travelogue and part poetic tribute to all the places that men and women have gone to over the years for a very personal sense of joy.<SPAN style=mso-spacerun: yes>  </SPAN>This journey done methodically over two decades picks up steam as the chapters begin to flow.<SPAN style=mso-spacerun: yes>  </SPAN>The effect of McDonald himself clearly growing as a poet through the years is accentuated by the fact that more and more pieces are written in the later trips.<SPAN style=mso-spacerun: yes>  </SPAN>The end result is a most interesting volume of not just ballparks but <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags /><st1:City w:st=on><st1:place w:st=on>Americana</st1:place></st1:City> as numerous attractions taken in during those ballpark weeks and weekends are also noted and/or dissected.</P><P class=MsoNormal style=MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify><?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office /><o:p> </o:p></P><P class=MsoNormal style=MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify>For fourteen seasons on his own and then six more accompanied by friend and confidant Adam Boneker McDonald's travels highlighted by over 300 poems can take the reader back to a simpler time or into the possibilities of the future.</P><P class=MsoNormal style=MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify><o:p> </o:p></P><P class=MsoNormal style=MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify>In chapter and in verse <I style=mso-bidi-font-style: normal>Poet in the Grandstand</I> has something for both the baseball enthusiast and the curious traveler.<SPAN style=mso-spacerun: yes>  </SPAN>Fans of the game and lovers of the road will each find much to offer within these pages.</P><P> </P>