Well past midnight last night, the Tampa Bay Rays did what no team in baseball history has ever done. Coming into September with a 9-game deficit in their division, they roared back and in a final regular-season game to determine the American league wild card, beat the New York Yankees and secured for themselves a berth in the postseason.
If you're not a baseball fan, and if that paragraph just went mushy in your head, that's ok. This post isn't completely about baseball.
Seemingly, the Rays didn't have much in their favor back in April. They'd lost a pack of top players over the winter. They lost their first six games of the season. And finally, coming into September, there was almost no way statistically to make their way into the postseason.
What they did have was manager Joe Maddon, who believes in his guys. He told them they could win and treated them like men, not boys. Over the course of the season, time and again, the Rays would come from behind and win games. In fact, miraculously, they were behind 7-0 in last night's game going into the bottom of the 8th inning. And won in the 12th. Man. I wonder what's on the minds of the fans seen leaving in the 6th inning?
So. Those Rays are tenacious. They don't give up even when all signs point to the futility of a good effort.
Today, I wonder. Am I tenacious in the important things of life? Do I show love to my husband and kids, even when I'm tired and feel under-appreciated? Love is shown not only by words, but actions.
Do I look for ways to honor others above myself? Am I willing to be inconvenienced for the sake of another? In the words of one Rays player, "we are grinders [hard workers] who go in and play every game as hard as we can." Am I a grinder for God and His kingdom?
It's kind of funny, and maybe a stretch, to draw a parallel between baseball and my life. But God can teach me in any way he chooses. He's God! And I think, just maybe, He might have been enjoying that game last night in St. Petersburg.
On to Texas!
Images by J. Meric/Getty
2 comments:
Fantastic post!!!! I would have been disappointed if you hadn't posted on the game, but what you actually wrote was awesome.
God never wastes a thing, even a scrappy baseball team from the gulf coast of Florida, to convey His message. We just have to be open and willing to learn.
GO RAYS!!!!
Thanks, Karen! And I love and appreciate your comments ... and you! Yep, go RAYS!
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