A Sad Day for Baseball

When I was a kid growing up I loved to play baseball.  Now I was never very good at it; as I have shared with many, I was always the last kid chosen on those pick-up teams during school recess; in fact, I was once offered for trade to another team - no takers.  But I loved baseball.  I remember those Saturday Games of the Week with Dizzy Dean and Pee Wee Reese doing the play-by-play.  Dizzy would open the broadcast with, "Welcome, partner, what a great day for baseball."  And I remember going to the local "mom and pop" store to spend twenty-five cents to buy baseball cards - never chewed the gum.  And I had my heroes: Henry "Hank" Aaron, Ernie Banks, Willie Mays, Bob Gibson, Harmon Killebrew, just to name a few.  I remember sitting on the grass along the inside of the outfield fence at old Sec Taylor Stadium in Des Moines one afternoon - the bleachers were filled for an exhibition game between the Cleveland Indians and the New York Giants.  I was within 20 feet of Willie Mays, star of the Giants. 

But over the years my interest in baseball has waned.  Perhaps it is because I am a die-hard Chicago Cubs fan and, to be quite honest, we have not had a lot to cheer about through the years - guess it is the curse of the goat.  But part of it has been the incredible rise in salaries and the lack of loyalty of a player to a team.  It is all about the money - there is no fan loyalty any longer.  I simply could not imagine Ernie Banks playing for any team but the Cubs, or Hank Aaron wearing any other uniform but that of the Braves. 

This past week baseball began to do something that has needed done for many years.  You might remember a few years ago the initial scandal involving Bobby Bonds, Sammy Sosa, and others who were accused of using steroids to improve their playing ability.  Sure Bonds broke Hank Aaron's home run record, but there will always be a taintedness to that record.  That scandal opened the eyes of many baseball lovers to see the corruption that had infiltrated a sport that kids loved to play on every sandlot across America.  Halos disappeared from heroes.  They mystique that was baseball began to fade.  Yet the rumors of deeper involvement with performance enhancing drugs persisted.  This time the baseball commissioner, Bud Selig, took action that was both necessary and urgent.  Thirteen players were suspended, without pay, for the remainder of this baseball season, and one player - Alex Rodriquez - was suspended also through the 2014 season.  Only A-rod appealed his suspension; the others accepted the guilt of their actions.  Heroes no longer.  Value to a team now called into question.  Idolized by young kids on America's sandlots - a thing of the past. 

These players tried to hide their involvement with drugs.  I am reminded of that passage of Scripture, found in Numbers 32:23 - "and you may be sure that your sin will find you out."  Was a few extra percentage points on a batting average or a few more home runs worth the humiliation of being discredited before your family, team-mates, and fans?  I believe that each of these players believed that they would not get caught.  That is one of the age-old lies of Satan - no one will know.  But sin is never done in secret.  As David wrote so powerfully, after his betrayal of a friend by committing adultery with his friend's wife and than covering up the sin by having his friend murdered and then being exposed by God, "Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge" (Psalm 51:4).  David tried to play the "no one will know" game, but lost. 

So, there is a lesson we can learn from the sad stories coming out of the baseball world this week.  Cheating to get ahead is not a recommended avenue for success; it is the highway to exposure and failure.  Remember these words from the heart of God: "you can be certain that your sins will be exposed and you will fall."  Guess those words of advice fit any vocation or avenue of life - not just baseball.