from Teammates
From: Extra Innings: Baseball Poems
BY. Peter Golenbock
Selected By: Lee Bennett Hopkins
Published By: Harcourt Brace

Stopping beside Jackie,
Pee Wee put his arm around
Jackie's shoulders.

An audible gasp rose up
from the crowd
when they saw
what Pee Wee had done.


Image adapted from an original by Scott Medlock

Then there was silence.

Outlined on a sea of green grass
stood these two great athletes,
one black,
one white,
both wearing the same
team uniform.

"I am standing by him,"
Pee Wee Reese said to the world.
"This man is my teammate."

Responding and Commenting About the Poem

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When you read this poem what did you think about?
Did the poem remind you of any special events you have experienced?
May be when you stood up for someone or someone stood by you,
or may be something you have seen in a movie or on television or read in a book.

Do you think this would still happen at a baseball game today? Why?

You have read and written about poems on the intranet today. Write about what it was like for you. What made it easy, difficult, boring, enjoyable?


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