Oscar Charleston

Sleep, Charlie! thou, the great, the strong!
Within the depths of mud and mire!
While high above the diamond throng
Thy sterling statue in retire
Proclaims the splendor of thy game,
Thy paramount, unequaled fame!

 

Thou wert the best who roamed the field!
Thy stalwart fingers never failed
The batters’ erring fate to seal,
The pitchers’ powers wrought to frail!
Oh! would thy skill could live always
To stir the sportsman happy praise!

 

Sleep, Charlie! I, who knew thee well,
Do here declare to Earth and time
In Heaven’s language, thus, to tell,
In poignant poetry divine,
The glory of thy destiny
Thus this undying rhyme to thee!

 

Sleep, Charlie! now in holy dust!
(As mighty Cobb and Petway rest)
Bearing the praise of all of us,
The diamond’s greatest and the less
Here honor we on thee bestow,
That ages will thy greatness know.

 

David J. Malarcher, a SABR member living in Chicago, was a Negro League teammate of Hall of Famer Oscar Charleston and, obviously, a great admirer.