Speedy Delivery: A Weekly Song Editorial
Mel Almada's Leap
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Notes: Mel Almada made the majors in 1933 as a Boston Red Sox outfielder. He was the first Mexican national to find a professional place in America’s national pastime. Mexicano Mel’s famous leap atop Fenway Park’s Green Monster wall to rob Babe Ruth of a game-winning homerun (and the Yankees of the pennant) is as legendary as it gets. I rewrote the final stanza at least four times, trying to find the perfect connection between Mel Almada’s wall and the giant wall that some United States politicians want to build to keep out hard-working Mexican immigrants.
Mel Almada’s Leap
By: Jake Speed
4-16-06
Mexicano Mel –
The Southpaw of the South
The first to cross the baseball border
and not get thrown out
Come gather ‘round, let’s take a trip to 1933
To Fenway Park, the spot of Mel Almada’s Famous Leap
Bridge:
The wall was high
No one could see the top
The wall was high
But not high enough to stop
Chorus:
Mexicano Mel leapt atop the wall
Everybody thought it was a homerun ball
But Mexicano Mel never had a doubt as he
Leapt atop the wall and made the out
The game was in the ninth
The Yankees vs. the Sox
With the pennant on the line
The Babe stood in the box
The pitch came in a blaze
The bat let out a smack
The Big Green Monster stood
At Mel Almada’s back
Bridge + Chorus
The fans were all amazed
They could not believe their eyes
Mel had jumped a wall
That was 40-feet high
When asked about his leap
Mel replied with a nod
“no wall should stop a working man
from doing his job”
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If there's anyone who could be called the "Woody Guthrie of Cincinnati," it's folksinger Jake Speed. Speed is again making moves that would do Woody proud. Speed's "songitorials" are weekly songs about current events. Think of it as a singing editorial with a healthy dose of wit and humanity. Each week, Speed will unveil a new song, dealing with different social issues of the day in much the way Guthrie's "Woody Sez" column once did.
by Mike Breen, Citybeat