Why So Surprised? (Bot9 #281)

This image is one of my all-time favorites. Joe Niekro threw a pitch that prompted the home plate umpire to come to the mound to inspect the potential of Niekro doctoring the baseball (click here to watch the whole sequence). In the midst of Niekro claiming innocence, he takes off his glove and empties his pockets. While turning out his rear right pocket, Niekro tries to flip away the evidence - an emery board he was using to scuff up the baseball. The umpire next to him happens to catch the item flying out of the corner of his eye and the rest was history. Niekro was kicked out of the game and suspended for the next 10 games.

Baseball history is filled with indiscretions, both minor and major. My lifetime has been filled with conversations of them. The cocaine scandal of the 1980s occurred when I was young. The story of Shoeless Joe Jackson and the 1919 Black Sox came to the forefront of pop culture through the films Field of Dreams and Eight Men Out. Pete Rose’s ban for gambling made news and continues to as he lobbies to get into the Hall of Fame annually. Now the Hall of Fame voters are blocking those who got caught up in the steroid era of baseball, keeping out many of my boyhood heroes.

And now we have the signs stealing scandal of the Houston Astros (and potentially other teams).

Here’s my question - why does this still surprise us? I just rattled off a series of things that have occurred within the game in my lifetime. Indiscretion and cheating are a part of baseball history. It’s not a pleasant part of it, but it’s part of it. And this is why I love baseball. I see it as the most human game that we have. It exposes us and our character. It amplifies what is best in us and what is the worst. I’m not saying it’s the only game that does it, but I believe it does it perfectly.

In this way, it’s just like the Old and New Testaments, the thing we call the Bible today. It’s not the story of people living life perfectly, it’s the story of a perfect God redeeming His people. Our God is a a God of connection and redemption. What if we treated all of these problems in the game of baseball as an opportunity for redemption? Instead of passing the tremendous weight of judgment on those who made the mistakes, locking them out of history, what if we created paths for reconciliation instead of closing the doors on them forever?

I’ve made mistakes in life, in relationships, and in the game. Yet through the grace of God and His forgiveness, He’s given me the opportunity and platform to proclaim His good name and work in the world. Imagine what the world might look like if we participated in God’s story through the game instead of casting such judgment on those who have and will make mistakes against the game. Let’s seek to redeem these people, these situations, and the game we all love.

#RedeemIt