Matthew Johnson

“Wasn’t Any Maybe So: Poems from the Life of Newt Allen, is a striking poetry collection that pays tribute to one of baseball’s lesser-known figures and honors the legacy of the Negro Leagues, an institution deserving of far greater recognition in its own right. In his second baseball-themed collection, Loren Broaddus brings his deep knowledge of the game to life through an authentic voice, rich with pathos, weaving together regret, memory, and redemption. Together, these poems preserve a vital piece of baseball history while reminding readers of the human stories that give the game its lasting power, and of the Negro Leagues, who, ‘in a limited, narrowed world” survived by “[their] own creating.’”

– Matthew Johnson, author of Jackie Robinson’s Real Gone: Baseball Poems of New York