Casey at the Bat - Softcover

Thayer, Ernest Lawrence

Softcover

ISBN 10: 087923878X ISBN 13: 9780879238780

Publisher: David R. Godine, Publisher, 1998

Synopsis

Things aren't looking promising for the Mudville Nine: it's the bottom of the ninth with two outs, and they're trailing 4-2. But Flynn blasts a single, and Blake tears the cover off the ball, and when the dust lifts, there are runners hugging second and third, and Mighty Casey is stepping into the box.

Few passions have created more myths in the American mind than baseball, and no poem has captured its lure or lore better than Ernest Lawrence Thayer's beloved "Casey at the Bat." Here is the classic edition; newly set, illustrated with full-color watercolors by Barry Moser (America's premier artist of the book), and containing an Afterword by the irrepressible Donald Hall, whose affectionate and affecting essay celebrates the poem, its hero, and that searing moment in each of our lives when, in front of all those we hold dear, we manage to strike out.

This handsome edition of our national ballad will bring the drama of Casey to life in a vivid and memorable volume. Take it home, read it aloud to your children, bury yourself in its cadences, and relive once again that fateful afternoon when Casey steps up to the plate and the summer air is shattered by the force of his blow.

About this title

About the Author:

Ernest L. Thayer was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts, in 1863. He grew up in nearby Worcester, attended Harvard College, and afterward, worked at the San Francisco Daily Examiner. While there, he wrote news stories, editorials, and ballads as well as a humorous column that he signed with the nickname "Phin."

Thayer returned to the East Coast in 1888. Shortly after his return he wrote Casey at the Bat and sent it to the Examiner where on June 3, 1888, it was printed on the editorial page and signed "Phin." After years of being performed on stage and radio, the ballad became immortalized, and is now known and loved by generations of baseball fans around the world.

From School Library Journal:

Kindergarten-Grade 5-Payne's caricatures, rendered in a mix of acrylics, watercolor, ink, oils, and colored pencils, are a marvel of texture and personality. Casey himself is the picture of pride-massive upper body, toothpick ankles, rosy cheeks, enormous sideburns, and a handlebar mustache. He's the essence of nonchalance as he steps up to the plate, acknowledging his adoring fans. Payne alternates panoramic spreads with single scenes facing a white page comprised of a stanza and visual detail. At the climax, an extreme close-up of "mighty Casey," smoke coming out of his ears and gums glistening, is followed by a two-page cyclone of empty air consuming the batter. Notes about Thayer and the poem complete the offering. Christopher Bing's version (Handprint, 2000), with its scrapbook setting, provides an elegant window to a distant event. Patricia Polacco's Casey at the Bat (PaperStar, 1997), with its youthful framing story, creates sympathy for and accessibility to a sandlot tragedy. Payne's version brings its own flavor to the classic poem. While the staging details evoke the past effectively, the humor and drama elicit immediate interest. Make room in your lineup for this one.
Wendy Lukehart, Washington DC Public Library
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: David R. Godine, Publisher
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 087923878X
• ISBN 13: 9780879238780
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Moser Barry