Right now I have six books on my desk that I want to read. Four of them on church leadership/disciple-making, and two concern making peace in relationships. I’m just not sure which one to start with. Maybe I should finish the two I’ve already started first. Then there are 66 other books I’m working on reading, and re-reading as well. I prefer those, which is probably why I don’t make as much progress on the others. Books are always better when you know the Author personally.
All that to say, who’s ready for some baseball? The lights have gone out (literally) on the football season, NASCAR’s losing its appeal, few people give a rip about professional basketball (although the NCAA’s March Madness still rocks), and hockey’s just another lock-out away from extinction. Bring on baseball!
Spring training has swung into action for MLB and games will be starting by the end of the month. Next thing you know, the regular season’s Opening Day will be here and you’ll be listening to Mike Shannon and John Rooney calling the play-by-play for the listening enjoyment of Cardinal Nation. You know spring is on the way when we start talking baseball.
What does this have to do with books, you might ask? My wife, who says I still have too many books, bought me a book for Christmas about baseball. She actually gave me two books. The other one is about marriage. Not sure what she’s trying to tell me there, which is probably why she gave me the book.
I read the one about baseball first. Don’t ask me why. It’s called, “Playing with Purpose,” and the author, Mike Yorkey, provides a look inside the lives and faith of some of the Major League’s top players. If you’re a fan of the game, you’ll recognize the likes of Clayton Kershaw, Carlos Beltran, Josh Hamilton, Mark Teixeira, Mariano Rivera, a guy named Albert, and several others. It’s a light, easy, inspirational read.
One of the players featured is from a small town not far from here. Ben Zobrist, who can and does play just about any position on the field for the Tampa Bay Rays, was raised in Eureka, once known as the pumpkin capital of the world, now home of Reaganfest, who’s 2012 logo showed the smiling and waving President ziplining.
Zobrist enjoyed a modestly successful high school baseball career but sure wasn’t on the radar of any college teams. He planned to go to Calvary Bible College in Kansas City, which didn’t even have a baseball team. He had prayed, “Lord, my life is yours, and I’m not going to be in charge. As for baseball, You can have that, too.” And as his senior season ended, he figured so did his days of playing organized baseball.
Shortly after graduation, however, Ben got invited to an open tryout where a dozen college coaches would be looking to fill some gaps on their rosters. He used $50 his grandparents had given him for his birthday to attend the tryout, not sure anything would come of it, but trusting in whatever God’s plan might be.
That plan eventually took him to the Majors, where Ben has become a solid player with a handsome contract. He says, “To me, coming from Eureka, where no other athlete had playing anything in professional sports, was definitely huge. It was like God was saying, ‘Look what I can do if you commit your work to Me and you just follow Me where I want you to go. I can do some things that you don’t think are even possible.’”
That’s some good reading there from a pretty good Author of life.
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