BASEBALL PLAYOFFS: PLAGUES AND
POSSIBILITIES
by Pastor Rick Sams
What are the chances the Indians will win the American League
Championship Series (ALCS)? How about the World Series? Stranger
things have happened in your world and the world of sport, which so often
imitates life.
What are the odds of this story? Pitcher Michael
Joseph Bacsik faced Barry Bonds when his stats stood at 755 home runs.
Bacsik served up the pitch that Bonds hit out and into the record books for
number 756 on Aug 7, 2007. Somebody had to do it, right? So what�s
the big deal?
What�s amazing is it was Michael James Bacsik, the father, who
faced Hank Aaron 33 years ago when he stood at 755. The big difference is
Bonds hit it out; Aaron didn�t, that night, or ever. What would the odds
have been to see Hank Aaron�s son face the younger Bacsik with the same stats
the elder Aaron had?
A couple other random baseball stories are on my
mind as the Indians are on the (war) path to the World Series (I hope we�re
still in the run by press time). I like these even though I�m a basketball
guy who�s more excited about the Cavs pre-season than the ALCS. (I still
wish Lebron wouldn�t have worn that Yankees hat!)
I inadvertently got my
congregation praying down plagues on the Yankees and Red Sox ever since I
mentioned that gnats rained down on Pharaoh because he hardened his heart
against God (Exodus 8:16-19). But what did the Yankees do to deserve this
during that fateful playoff game? They deserve it simply because they�re
the Yankees, right? Of course the gnats "rained on both the just and the
unjust that fateful night (See Matthew 5:46). But they seemed to
bother the Yanks more than the Tribe, pestering their pitcher into
distraction…and defeat.
Speaking of plagues, as Christians we don�t
believe in the "Curse of the Bambino that lifted miraculously in 2004 for
the Red Sox when they overcame a never-been-done-before 0-3 deficit to win the
ALCS, the sweep the Series 3-0. Nor do we believe in the "Curse of Rocky
Colavito that has allegedly plagued the Indians since 1948.
Boston
pitcher Curt Shilling and Yankees manager Joe Torre, pitchers Andy Pettite and
Mariano Rivera are all committed Christians. Indians fans MIGHT not want
to hear that. It surely won�t change who they�re rooting for.
It
should matter, because becoming a Christian matters for eternity. Who wins
the ALCS, the World Series, or the NBA championship, only makes a difference for
a short time.
"What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole
world, yet forfeits his soul?...Jesus said to her, �I am the resurrection and
the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and
whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe
this?� (Matthew 16:26; John
11:25)?