Dr. Jay's Blog

Yesterday, Pittsburgh remembered an event that took place 50 years ago that changed the sports history of our city forever. Many believe it was the most significant moment in Pittsburgh sports of all time.

In the bottom of the ninth inning in the seventh game of the World Series the highly favored New York Yankees fell to the overmatched, underpaid Pittsburgh Pirates 10-9 on a home run by Bill Mazeroski (affectionately called Maz) over the left field wall.

What made that day so special for me was not it's significance in Pittsburgh sports. It was the fact that my dad and I sat in the left field bleachers that day - eyewitnesses to one of the most amazing games of all time and something that I've never forgotten in the 50 years following that day.

You can read the details of that game here www.post-gazette.com. In those days, general admission tickets were awarded according to a lottery. Our family received 4 tickets to the seventh game of the World Series and I distinctly remember thinking when we got the tickets that we would "never see a game" because the Yankees were so heavily favored to sweep the Pirates that it was widely held that we wouldn't have a prayer of winning.

But I've come to learn that in life not to presume the outcome of any event before the fact. In sports, as in most anything, the outcome is never certain until everything is over. How I wish more of us would approach our spiritual journey with the same "openness to the impossible" that those Pirate fans had in 1960!

The other part of that experience for me was the fact that even though my dad and I didn't get to many ballgames, I'll never forget that time we shared and the memory that that etched in my mind forever. (Yes, I still have the ticket stubs to the game!)

I wish everyone could have an experience like that with their mom or dad. Though not "spiritual" it was truly unforgettable and formed a bond of experience that we shared many times over the years as a part of my growing up experience and my love for my dad, who was sure we had the best seats to the best game ever to be played in Forbes Field!

Blessings on this anniversary celebration day,
Dr. Jay