Geoerge Bowering and mascot
With Spring Training looming on the horizon next month (and keeping we baseballomaniacs barely alive), we at In Other Words feel particularly generous; thus, to aid us in our generosity, Canada's premier sporty poet, none other than our inaugural Parliamentary Poet Laureate himself, George Bowering, OC, graciously provided us with a gem of a prize for the baseballophile who correctly answers the following eight trivia questions concerning the guy we prefer to refer to as our resident bullshit artist in these har parts (where dulcet greens and soaring taters make for magnificent music and even more dazzling visuals):
1. Can you name Bowering's favourite baseball team?
2. How many baseball books has Bowering either written or edited in total? (If you can correctly identify all of them, you will additionally receive a collector's-item bonus described below in the prize section of this world-exclusive feature.)
3. Who is Bowering's all-time numero-uno favourite hitter (whom I actually met during my Floridian daze at Boog Powell's, nyah-nyah!)?
4. The prolific author of more than 90 works possesses a huge baseball-cap collection he understandably off-shows with pride; but, one cap will never join the others since Bowering considers it anathema to even be caught looking in the same room with one (even if it's his BFF wearing same). Which team's cap does he abso-deffo refuse to collect in no uncertain terms? (I agree with him completely on this oh-so-un-fine set of doodlie-dandies, BTW.)
5. For which baseball team is Bowering the "Official Loudmouth Fan?"
6. Bowering hung up his cleats when he turned 65; at that time, he turned to a kinder and gentler team sport. Which one?
7. During his Twilight-League playing days, Bowering sported authentic Major League Baseball pants from the double-knit era. Which team's pants from that era did he wear?
8. At which MLB park did Our Man George throw out the first pitch?
Act now! Don't delay! Send your replies to yours truly ASAP (or today!). In the event we receive more than one correct entry, a draw will take place in Vancouver; that is, Darling Jean Baird will oversee her husband, the subject of this quiz, plucking the winning name from his favourite team's baseball cap, an act also witnessed by other interested and interesting parties we shall identify in due time.
The prize (or prizes)? The lucky winner will receive an autographed first-edition copy of Bowering's latest work, The Diamond Alphabet (BookThug).
Plus? If the successful entrant does correctly list each of the works Bowering's either edited or written as described in the second question of our quiz, said lucky one will also score but one of 24 very rare In Other Words T-Shirts designed by Pope Paul Ipolito with our slogo — "Sumus pulli patentes scientiae: Noli Nos Saepire!" — featuring prominently on it (thanks to North America's top Latinist, St. Michael's Father Owen Lee).
(Cap doff and high fiver to Jeanius Baird, the intrepid author, editor, snap-shooter and delightfully game dame who created this stunning exquizitica exclusively for In Other Words. Merci! Aussi? Grateful thanks to Nice Wice, a Blue Jayist, for her understanding and invaluable assistance keeping this Tigeranter in top form :).)