Last evening, I broke most of my personal disciplines and stayed up until nearly 1:00 a.m. watching the 6th game of TheWorld Series. I'll say right out of the gate that I'm not a huge baseball fan, but the playoffs and particularly The World Series are simply too compelling to lay aside.
Last night, I fully expected to watch a portion of the game and be content but nearly 4 hrs. and 30 min. into it I was at the very edge of my seat!
In what will be called one of the most exciting games of all times, the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Texas Rangers 10-9 in eleven innings! What was so remarkable about the game was that the Cardinals trailed four different times in the last few innings and were down to their last pitch on two occasions when the batters came through with clutch swings delivering tying and then eventually winning runs!
The real drama is to watch a highly trained bull pen "closer" who can throw the ball over 95 miles an hour (which is incredible) and get it almost precisely where he wants it to be in the strike zone. In this case the pitcher thought he could simply overpower the hitter and in fact the hitter (David Freese) connected twice to bring home the tying and the winning runs!
Face to face, head to head, one to one, is what makes baseball a unique game even though it's a team sport. Yes, there were eight other men on the field or waiting to bat, but in that one on one match up it was simply two guys giving it their best and only one could come out on top!
However, the enthusiasm and joy, actually the almost childlike explosion of delight following the winning run, reminded all the viewers that baseball, like life, is a "team sport" and when one person excels everyone benefits! There's another parallel here to how I see life being lived in community and the joy that happens when one individual makes an impact that all of us can celebrate.
Baseball is simply a game, but it also is a slice of the wonderful culture that God has allowed us to enjoy here in America. Last night was simply one of the best moments of enjoying that gift that I can recall since the '79 Bucks "went all the way"!
Can't wait for game 7,
Dr. Jay
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment