Mr. Whitley
Who owned Whitley’s Furniture and Funeral home
And the Kannapolis Towelers baseball team,
Had a room over his business where he kept
Mattresses enough for his players to sleep
The night before a big game
Or when they played the hated rival
The Concord Weavers. Mr. Whitley
Locked them in: the Watts brothers,
Marvin and Ginger, the famous college
Football player, Eric Tipton, the preacher
Glenn “Razz” Miller, the manager, Buck
Redfern, star pitcher “Coddle Creek” Taylor,
But especially former MLB slugger, Vince
Barton, who would otherwise be
At a Cabarrus County roadhouse.
Outlaws, all of them: Mr. Whitley
In his mortician’s suit gave them
A pep talk: reminded the team that
They were part of town history.
Then left them to their thoughts
In the room above the mortuary.
