Joshua "Josh" Gibson (1911–1947) is a baseball legend―one of the greatest power hitters in the Negro Leagues, and in all of baseball history. At the height of his career, this trailblazing athlete suffered grueling physical ailments, lost his young wife who died giving birth to their twins, and endured years of Jim Crow–era segregation and discrimination―all the while breaking records on the ball field. Dorian Hairston's debut poetry collection explores the Black American experience through the lens of Gibson's life and seventeen-year baseball career, which culminated in his posthumous election to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972. Hairston brilliantly reconstructs the personas of Gibson and others in his orbit whose encounters with white supremacy interweave with the inevitability of losing loved ones. By alternating between the perspectives of Gibson, members of his family, and contemporary Black baseball players, Hairston captures the complexity and the pain of living under the oppressive weight of grief and racial discrimination. Emotive, prescient, and absorbing, these powerful poems address social change, culture, family, race, death, and oppression―while honoring and giving voice to Gibson and a voiceless generation of African Americans. " Pretend the Ball Is Named Jim Crow is superb. This is the star treatment Negro League baseball has always deserved. Hooks Tinker's press row seat and Josh Gibson's storied life provide the perfect points of view for this intimate examination of Black life between the bases. Dorian Hairston winds up and delivers inning after inning of masterfully crafted historical poems with an insider's view of the truth that lets the reader swing at a Satchel Paige fastball, celebrate a Gibson home run, and witness a love for the game that sometimes failed to love you back. If it's the bottom of the ninth, the bases are loaded, and you're up to bat, you'll want this book in your hands."―Frank X Walker, author of A is for Affrilachia and Buffalo Dance: The Journey of York "Dorian Hairston's Pretend the Ball is Named Jim Crow: The Story of Josh Gibson is more than just a poetry collection. It's a tribute to the enduring spirit of Black American athletes who faced and overcame adversity. By weaving together the worlds of baseball and poetry, Hairston has created a powerful narrative that resonates beyond the baseball diamond and the page."― BNN "(A)n inventive and engaging book of persona poems, detailing the life of Negro League power hitter and trailblazer Joshua Gibson."― Still: The Journal "Dorian Hairston's poems in Pretend the Ball is Named Jim Crow should be required reading for everyone, especially those who strive to outlaw the concepts of Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion in education and everyday life. . . . From one poem to the next, the stunning collection is a crash course in baseball's past and Jim Crow, giving voice to a voiceless generation of African Americans, including Josh Gibson."―Constance Alexander, Northern Kentucky Tribune Winner of the 2024 Twin Bill Book Prize for Best Baseball Poetry Book Dorian Hairston is a poet, scholar, and former University of Kentucky baseball player from Lexington, Kentucky. He is a member of the Affrilachian Poets and his work has appeared in Shale, Anthology of Appalachian Writers, and pluck!