The re-birth of an idea from almost four decades past fuels this story of a pair of baseball fans who want to collectively chronicle the final season of their longtime home ballpark. In the skipper's scrapbook, poet and writer Thomas Porky McDonald shares the tale of the skipper, a man in his late 40's and The Chief, an octogenarian, who both still share the love of the game of baseball, in a way that is not as prevalent as it once was. Through the pages of a scrapbook based on photos taken as the final season of New York's Shea Stadium plays out, both the skipper and The Chief cover some old ground, while finding out a little more about one another and themselves. It is 2008, and the New York Mets are preparing for the 45th and final season of their old yard, Shea Stadium, when the skipper broaches the idea of a scrapbook to commemorate the entire season. Once before, back in 1969, the two had teamed up to create a similar volume, only then it was The Chief who had thought of the scrapbook idea, with the skipper, just a small boy, enthusiastically along for the ride. Of course, when the 100-1 New York Mets, the perennial lovable losers of the National League since their inaugural season in 1962, went on to win the first ever National League East title, the ensuing League Championship Series and ultimately the World Series, the scrapbook took on added value and meaning. So much so, that the skipper still has it languishing on a dusty old bookshelf when 2008, the final season of Shea, comes along. In the six months that it takes for a season to transpire, and in a most different way than it was done back in 1969, the new scrapbook takes the two men back one more time to what baseball had always meant to both of them and to so many other fans, even as a new breed of overly statistic-minded individuals crept more and more into the mainstream. A story of loyalty, the skipper's scrapbook is a decidedly honest account of what many feel when a treasured old ballpark stands down its final days. Whether you are a genuine baseball aficionado or not, the connection between the two main protagonists should prove variously touching, humorous and familiar.

A close personal loss and the first trip ever to the land of his ancestors makes this fifth collection of poetry by Thomas Porky McDonald, In the Cameo Shade:2002-2005, a most effecting volume. As usual, the rambling (sometime) baseball poet deftly weaves his way between the real world and the one he continues to explore, between the white lines. In The Roads of Lives Away, McDonald come to grips with the loss of a childhood friend, Frank Brady, in moving pieces, such as "Until Until" and "Eternal August." "Bitter Lines Within," "A Solitary Thing" and the title piece also flavor Roads, while remembrances of other former Irish heroes, Tug McGraw ("A Believer's Heart") and his father ("The Sailor I'm Still Looking For"), take McDonald from poet on back to child. An Apollo Stillness features more longing pieces, with such disparate topics as the author of the text on the Statue of Liberty ("When Emma Wrote For Free"), former modes of transportation ("Old Train Stations"), The Civil War ("The House of Willmer," "A Different Education") and the state of the world today ("The Problem With Everywhere," "You Take Armageddon") all chiming in. Continuing along this route, The Itch consists of a number of nostalgic verses, concerning people ("The Greatest Days in Heaven," "The Space Traveler"), places ("The Pubs on Grand Avenue," "A Big Small Town Known as Childhood") and things ("An El Train to Immortality"). The final two books in this collection, A Different Hunger and Troubadour Sundays further dig into the soul of the man looking through the boy. Hunger is dominated by a slew of poems written while on McDonald's first ever visit to Ireland. The most endearing of these are (arguably) "Streets of Dublin," "A Call to Benediction," "Pedestrian Galway," "A Connemara Monday" and "Winds off the Ocean" (which commemorates the spreading of his friend Brady's ashes on the Cliffs of Moher, County Clare). Sundays, with evocative pieces "Do You See the Homeless at Home" "How Far Away is Thomson" and "Sons of the Pacific," closes out a most remarkable collection of poetry, which finds this poet growing more consistently introspective then in previous volumes.

Still Chuckin': Poems 1999-2002, the fourth five-book collection of poetry to be released by Thomas Porky McDonald, sees the poet delve deeper into life-themed verses, while also continuing a steady stream of baseball-related material. Written during the most serene four-year period that the poet had known up until that time, Still Chuckin' does indeed show that McDonald's fastball, so to speak, is still humming. From To Thrill Again, former injustices ("Rubin's Smile," "The Walls of Trenton State"), personal philosophies ("Who is the Star?" "Through a Cease or a Fold," "Just a Balladeer") and the love of his life ("Memo to Rona") all take a stand, while the old yard is most noticeably poignant in "The Boy From Down the Hall," "The Crowd of Sweet Remembers," "The One True Heaven I've Known" and the title piece. The shadow of Rona makes a more definitive appearance in Underground Auroras/6702 ("Till All Your Tears are Ones of Joy," "Sweet, Sincere Notes," "Fairly Endlessly," "A Dream of You"), even as the world passes through ("Take a Message Back to Sundown," "Lately I Find Early," "The High Wire and the Net"). The passion for the game of his youth remains evident as ever in "Upon Ruth's Lot," "In the Mezz Wearing Weathered Mesh," "Farewell to a Season" and "Until We Tell Stories Again." The Corner of Catharsis and Epiphany illustrates McDonald's diverse leanings, from "A Piece in the Night," "Photographs in the Mind," "What the Con Said" and "When We Were All Poets," to ballpark odes "For the Holy Ghost," "The Fences Were Green" and "Pink Lincolns." The final two books in Chuckin', Vignettathon and Hobo Freight Dreams, written in the advent and aftermath of 9/11, each show the poet athis most focused. From Vignettathon, "The Air That September," "To Pray Once Always," and "A Vow as One" speak of that unprecedented time, while "The Lady on the Boulevard," "Tortured," and "A Dream Not Done" each reveal another layer of his soul. Hobo Freight Dreams close

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. Through "Poet in the Grandstand," 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. 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. This journey, done methodically, over two decades, picks up steam as the chapters begin to flow. 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. The end result is a most interesting volume of not just ballparks, but Americana, as numerous attractions taken in during those ballpark weeks and weekends are also noted and/or dissected. 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. In chapter and in verse, "Poet in the Grandstand" has something for both the baseball enthusiast and the curious traveler. Fans of the game and lovers of the road will each find much to offer within these pages.

The sixth collection of poetry to be released by Thomas Porky McDonald, Vespers at Sunset: Poems 2005-200 7 sees the poet alternately reaching back and looking forward, with the usual five-book format along for the ride. Up first is The Fat Parrot Diaries, a volume which contains a number of reflective pieces, like "Deuce" and "47," about Frank Brady, a friend whom McDonald has alluded to often in the past. The passing of Civil Rights icon Rosa Parks inspired the impassioned verse "The Buses Won't Be Running in Heaven Tonight" and the growing specter of aging exballplayers spurred the longing ode "As Those Years Deplete the Roster." Diaries is complemented by its immediately succeeding set, Drfling Shadows, whose title piece contains lasting images also seen in both "Lookin' Out Mikey's Window" and "A Vision of Kirby," written for an old friend and a baseball icon, respectively. The present is even more in evidence in Shadows, with a country visit ("At Lackawanna," and "The Life Goes On and On") and a Midwest trip ("The Guy From Midwood," "The Other Side of the Street") supplying the muse. In the Alley brings the poet back to New York, as the day-to-day ("The Room That Con Ed Missed"), the great beyond ("Till the Canyons Evolving Are Done") and the most evil day of all ("At 8:45") each pitch a tent. As always, baseball is well represented, with the city of Baltimore ("Legends House," "Ripken County") providing the latest stop on the tour. Alley also contains thoughts of impending doom ("A Feeling, As Yet Unknown") and Eternal gratefulness ("Those Who Set You Free"), balanced by a seminal classic ("A Time"). The final two books of Vespers are Frankie Rules, a book centered on the memory of Brady ("Frankie's Cure," "Frankie's Sport," Frankie's Heart and the title piece), and Old Phenoms, where the soon to be razed Shea Stadium ("The Space Beyond 1' Street," "Queries to an Usher on Doomsday") stands astride a pair of more personal farewells ("The Bond of the Eternal Souls," "The Window on the Second Floor"). Another representative collection from the kid from Queens.

In July of 1985, Thomas Porky McDonald arrived in Brooklyn to work for the New York City Transit Authority. For two decades, he surveyed the grounds, the air and the heartbeat of what he would come to consider his second home. More than anything though, he found the writer and poet within himself while navigating Brooklyn, and that translated into short stories, historical narratives and the poetry that defines the Irishman who showed up one day on the "G" train from nearby Queens. Dem Poems: The Brooklyn Collection is a celebration of McDonald's 20 years spent as a Brooklyn regular, where some of the most relevant pieces in the poet's arsenal were born. Beginning with a nod to the many fabled icons of the Borough, like the Brooklyn Bridge ("Steel Ropes"), Ebbets Field ("Bedford Interlude") and Coney Island ("Take a Message Back to Sundown"), as well as the area's landscape itself ("Just a Walk On Flatbush Avenue," "Trolley Tracks"), the volume then settles into more personal poems about those who first graced his life in Brooklyn. Pieces like "Notes On the Hallway Choir," "Sister Theresa" and "A Ride On the I.N.T." speak reverently of friendships shared and grown, while leading the reader toward the two most visceral sections in the collection. Retirees ("Waltz into the Night"), escapees ("Southbound") and others moving on ("Bittersweet Moments") form a joyous prelude to a number of more somber homecoming pieces, such as "Sonic Whispers," "One More" and "Where Pain Doth Cease." In the final pages of the book, Brooklyn baseball, which was the original muse for McDonald during his earliest days in Kings County, is lauded in both the past ("The Kids From the Old Neighborhood," "Dem, I andEden," "The Sentry") and present ("At Brooklyn," "Eternity Day") forms. In October of 2005, McDonald was amongst a large contingent from NYC Transit that was banished from Brooklyn, to their new base in Lower Manhattan (though he would still return across the r

Taken from twenty-seven collections of poetry written between the years 1989 and 2006, Thomas Porky McDonald offers up Diamond Reflections: Baseball Pieces For Real Fans, 291 poems about and fueled by the once and future National Pastime. Reflecting on a joyous childhood, the poet's deep-rooted love for baseball, first instilled in him by his father, Bill "The Chief" McDonald, flows vibrantly throughout this volume. As in previous poetry books, McDonald divides Diamond Reflections into workable sections, giving the reader a guide that proves most helpful to those similarly inspired. In Heroes, personal favorites from a child of the late 60's-early 70's ("My Pal Willie," "Able to Find Cleon," "A Single Classic Swing") meld seamlessly with historical figures ("When the Man Came On Waving His Wand," "Me and the Splinter," "Waiting For Jackie Robinson") latter-day luminaries ("Safe Harbor," "San Diego's Pride") and often forgotten stars of the Negro Leagues ("Ol' Satch," "Mule in the Sky," "Thinking About Josh"). In Playing Fields, this formula continues, with the old ("The Park That Isn't There," "A Church I Never Went To," "Across Dimensions," "Merely Sunny Yesterday"), the new ("Outskirts," "Rockin' By the Lakeside," "Stillwell, Surf to Shore") and the personal memories of childhood ("The Peaceful Joy We Had," "Faith Between the Lines," "The Fields of the Lost, Scattered Youths," "Queensbridge") each checking in. In Lessons, personal beliefs and feelings inspired by or corroborated by baseball round out the collection. The most evocative of these include "A Big Small Town Known as Childhood," "Rainbows in Need of a Storm," "The Boy From Down the Hall," "Wooden Bats" and "When We Were AllPoets." A Final Tour, whose singular piece, "Farewell to a Season," may most properly define the scope of the work (.,"Laughter every inning, here to the beginning; Reach out youngster aging for the light."), closes out a sincere and thoroughly positive volume of

Certain individuals find a singular moment in life used to portray them and/or define them, if not basically brand them. In the world of sports, particularly baseball, this practice is raised to a level that is questionable at best, laughable in most instances and blatantly unfair as a rule. The sports media, along with a growing portion of the general public that refuses to form their own opinions, goes to extremes to constantly relive an individual's weak moments. Curiously, they often then close their ridiculing diatribes by mentioning that labeling a particular person is really unfair. In Never These Men, Thomas Porky McDonald, whose previous works stressed the notion that a game like baseball is there for the joy it gives to those who truly love it and understand it, takes a peek at a small collection of the most famous (or is it infamous?) of these media-fueled characters. The idea that someone who cannot possibly do something (play professional sports) might then play judge and jury on those that can (athletes) seems absurd to McDonald, who clearly feels that the ever-growing rash of media outlets, in concert with an unthinking generation of spectators, has only bloated the array of unfounded criticisms and hypocritical rhetoric within our midst. From Fred Merkle, an early media creation, through to Bill Buckner, a truly fine and underrated ballplayer, Never These Men fundamentally asks the reader to imagine how it feels to be branded for a singular moment in one's life. McDonald, foremost a poet, liberally spreads a few relevant original verses throughout this volume, which is fundamentally a call for fair play. The idea of balanced and proper reporting is considered as well, as in the cases of Ralph Branca, Mitch Williams and Ralph Terry. Though all three were solid Major Leaguers who gave up famous home runs, only the former two are constantly cited, a point of contention here. In the area of authority figures, why Charles Comiskey and Judge Landis are barely scrutinized for their truly abhorrent behavior, while a lifetime baseball man like Gene Mauch is merely brushed aside by far too many is a question that clearly haunts this writer. Never These Men asserts that working in a world with little or no accountability, while demanding total accountability from those whose skill and expertise literally creates your professional existence, is an absurdity that needs to be addressed.

Closer to Rona Poems 1997-1999 The third collection of poetry to be released by Thomas Porky McDonald, Closer to Rona, Poems 1997-1999 reflects on the great love of the poet''s life, Rona Todman. The five-book set begins with Season of Destiny, which was coming to a conclusion about the time Mr. McDonald and Ms. Todman began spending more and more time together. Lasting reflections come alive in "Incompletions" and "9th Avenue Ain''t Pretty," while requisite baseball pieces "How They Ran," "Chestnut Air" and "When Heroes Die" offer up a poet deep into his own element. The arrival of Rona spurs the second and most unique of all his poetry collections, Life With Toddy. The overwhelming majority of pieces in Toddy are directly to or about Rona, so much so that this volume is clearly McDonald''s first genuine love poem collection. "When You Go Back," "Longing For You," "Heaven Across the Triboro" and the title piece all speak of a devotion and passion not seen before from the Queens troubadour. "Dream''s Song" "Velvet Lined," "As the Lightning Froze" and "Hills of Paradise" each also define this rapturous collection. On the heels of Toddy comes Calamine Pink, which continues to explore the relationship between the poet and his dream girl. This is most evident in "Our Eternity," "All You Need to Know" and "An Apology For Lost Time," while "Believers" and "A Sunday Cry" are verses less personal yet thought provoking. The ballpark, touched upon briefly in Toddy ("Off Elysian Pier," "To Be Mays One Day") returns vibrantly in Pink with "Blue Velvet Nightfall," "Ellwood Would Have Loved It," "A Sure Thing in Center" and "They Never Booed Hodges in Brooklyn." The final two books in Closer to Ronaare Locomotive Limbo and Legendary Unknowns. "My Desperate For You Soul," "When I''ve You" and "Time to Be a Friend" highlight Limbo, while "Pacific Blue Correspondence," "Corner Lights" and "Roads" distinguish Unknowns, which closes out a most electric time in the poet''s life.

The second collection of poetry to be released by Thomas Porky McDonald, Downtown Revival: Poems 1994-1997, covers the poet's most focused and (arguably) prolific period. Written directly after returning to Downtown Brooklyn following a protracted suspension from work, Homestand opens this collection with a number of personal pieces. For Ever Friends, All These Eternities and Single Santa Fe Car, as well as the title piece, show the poet's appreciation for both the concept and the reality of home. McDonald continues in this vein in Trolley Tracks, another collection that speaks to the inner soul of the man. She Smiles For You Ever, Once Upon a Time on a Platform and As the Pink Grayer Grays live in reflective glances that are obviously revered by the poet. polished book of poems, goes back to the ballpark, in a way that is reminiscent of his first two poem books, Second.to Verse and Eternal Postcards. Along with baseball pieces like Safe Harbor and September Rain, Ramble Poets also contains a long list of thought-provoking verses, most notably Cross on the Red, When the Day Comes and Bleary-eyed Milkmen. Universal Loner, which appear semi-autobiographical in nature. Gravy Man, in many ways as reflective as Ramble Poets, features some nostalgic material, like Time Induced Lies, Hey Jack Ruby, P.S. 6 is a Parking Lot and Sunnyside Gardens. The tender Waltz Into the Night closes out this book and leads to Universal Loner, which could well be entitled The Sad Poems. The title piece, along with Scenes of This Earth, All Ashore, Miss Troubadour and I Never Went to the Polo Grounds all shed a tear for a time lost. The final poem of the collection, aptly titled Until the Next Remember, leaves the reader poised for the next five book set by McDonald, Closer to Rona: Poems 1997-1999, in which the sometime gravy man and universal loner finds love.

In direct contrast to the plethora of "winning is everything" material that has incrementally grown since the 1990's, Thomas Porky McDonald, poet and writer, offers up At a Loss to Eternity, an admittedly arbitrary look at a number of fine baseball teams that, as the subtitle states, ."Didn't Win it All." Spanning from the early days of the modern World Series Era to the present, McDonald attempts to enlighten those who are willing, as well as those seemingly scarred by the burgeoning attitude that everyone is a loser except the one that wins the ultimate Championship. League Champions who lost the World Series, like the legendary 1906 "Tinker to Evers to Chance" Chicago Cubs or Milwaukee's "Brew Crew '82" take their proper place amongst the elites that they ultimately lost the Fall Classic to. Remarkable second place teams, such as the 1942 Brooklyn Dodgers and the 1961 Detroit Tigers, each winners of 100+ regular season games, are also afforded a forum here. Storied franchises currently in the throes of long Championship droughts, from Chicago's Cubs and White Sox to the Cleveland Indians, are considered, along with their former baseball purgatory roommate, the Boston Red Sox, who finally took it all in 2004. At a Loss to Eternity asks the reader to simply recall what professional sports, and baseball in particular, are really about. The joy that those who love the Game get from it cannot be dismissed by a growing inane "win or die" attitude fostered by mass media and accepted incoherently in too many places. Winning is wonderful, and all athletes should certainly strive to win every time they enter the playing field. Nonetheless, any player that gives every ounce of effort they cantoward the goal of winning could never be a loser, despite what those who've probably never accomplished anything themselves would have you believe. Winning isn't everything, though aspiring to win surely should be. The Red Sox 2004 World Championship exorcized