Shakespheare Bats Cleanup

It is clear to see that baseball is a huge part of this read by Ron Koertge. The book Shakespeare Bats Cleanup is a about a 14 year-old boy who comes down with mono and makes the decision to start writing poetry in a notepad his father gave him. We see him express his feelings as Kevin gives us a crack of what his life is like. Kevin's real passion is baseball as he plays first base for one of the local teams. Kevin has ate, slept, and breathed baseball for the longest time and now this is the first time that he has it taken away from him. He can't even watch other people playing it because it is so hard for him to see where he once was. To deal with his pain of giving up the game, he decides to write poetry. He learns the different types of poetry, for there are several.
Although Kevin explores other aspects in his life, he always reverts back to baseball. Baseball is the main theme of this book. In the structure of the read, it is all poems, sweet and to the point, just like the game of baseball. In writing poetry, it has to be natural and writing great poems don't require hard thinking, just instinct. Baseball is the same way and I believe that's why the book is written the way it is. A lot of people say baseball is "poetry in motion" and Kevin's past in baseball might have actually helped him in his attempts to become a poet.No matter the situation, Kevin is always talking about baseball. The situations with girls, his mother, and his past experiences.
Kevin becomes a better poet throughout with all the practice writing. At the beginning, the book is rather choppy but once he becomes better at writing it's easy to read. With repetition of writing these poems, he becomes a great poet. Same can be said for baseball players. With every rep at the ball and watching your every move, you become better at the game. Kevin claimed that he couldn't live without baseball before writing and after he got better and started playing ball again, he couldn't live without writing. Baseball and poetry really go hand in hand.