I've long had a problem with athletes who give praise to the Lord when the win games, but never seem to blame Jebus when things go wrong. As George Carlin points out, you never hear the losing team say "we would have won, but Jesus made me fumble." As annoying as that can be, the Colorado Rockies have taken it to a whole other level.
As this article from Britain's The Independent shows, the Rockies are a team of faith:
The team's chief executive is a born-again Christian. So is the general manager and the team coach. Their two star players, along with many other members of their regular line-up, are not only believers but attend team-organised Bible studies.One might opine that indeed it's not just a coincidence at all - it's just that the players actually started playing well! Talk about an insult to the talent. Not to mention the arrogance that not only does the Supreme Sky King of the Universe care about baseball but he wants you to win!
The team doesn't like to talk about it much – mainly because the overlords of Major League Baseball don't think it's good for business – but they have an explicit policy to recruit as many Christian ball players as they can.
In other words, the Rockies – uniquely, even in a country as religion-obsessed as America – play faith-based baseball. And, in their view, God just rewarded them – big time.
'You look at some of the moves we made and didn't make,' general manager Dan O'Dowd said in the only interview he has given on the subject, long before the Rockies' remarkable ascension over the past few weeks. 'You look at some of the games we're winning. Those aren't just a coincidence. God has definitely had a hand in this.'
And what has the Lord done for the Rockies anyway?
The game was a thriller, the score see-sawing until the two sides were tied at six runs apiece after the regulation nine innings. San Diego eventually broke the game open with two runs in the top half of the 13th inning, only to see the Rockies bounce back with two runs of their own, leaving their star hitter, Matt Holliday, just 90ft away from victory at third base.In other words - God cheats. Which shouldn't really come as a surprise to anyone. Not only that, he holds a grudge - after casting the Padres out of the playoffs, he set place on fire!
On the first pitch faced by the next batter, Holliday came tearing towards home plate and collided with the Padres' catcher, who had the ball in time to intercept him and get him out. But the ball flopped out of the catcher's hand, and the umpire quickly ruled Holliday safe. The run was in, the Rockies were up 9-8, and the game was over.
Except that the umpire appeared to have made the wrong call. Close inspection of the replay suggested Holliday never actually touched home plate, as the rules require, because the catcher's foot was in the way.
7 comments:
Hmm. Well, it is my belief, as well as scriptural, that "all good things come from above". And I think, in many ways, that God does bless those who believe in Him and are faithful.
Now, it is interesting to point out that to some it may appear that God is certainly not interested in baseball. But the truth is, God is very much interested in the individual lives of every single one of His children. I find it foolish to write it off as if these managers and players are somehow off their rockers to believe that God has a hand in any of their successes on the field, when those of us who have a relationship with Jesus Christ know that He does things in every area of our lives all the time.
Sorry, Chris - I think believing that the invisible all powerful man in the sky allows all the suffering, indignity, and general nastiness in the world to go unchecked but finds the time to fix a baseball game is the very definition of "off their rockers." Of course, we're coming at this from two completely opposed views of the universe, so that's not surprising.
Does it mean that the other teams aren't sufficiently Godly? What about the Red Sox, since they whipped them angels last night? Should we just do away with the game altogether and see who prays better?
Who is to say that He is letting it go unchecked? You are assuming to know that He is not intervening in many things that we are unaware of. I do know that we are coming from different ends of it, so I'm just making points from my side.
And no, the outcome of games is not decided by God. Please don't think that I'm saying that He is controlling every aspect of every sporting event played. Not at all. What I have a problem with is the notion that if a player or manager is a believer, that God can't bless them in their profession. I've seen it happen in many others.
I do not believe that He is counting balls and strikes, and innings and outs. Not at all. But I don't believe we should just write it off when someone is thankful for their blessings, that's all.
I think that this goes beyond being thankful for blessings though Chris. It does sort of sound like God is an assistant coach in this team's mind.
I appreciate where you are both coming from. Chris is coming from the viewpoint of a very personal God who intervenes in our lives and JDB is coming from the viewpoint that, if there is a god, it would suck for him to spend time worrying about something so trivial when there is so much pain and suffering in the world.
Personally, I tend to gravitate more toward JDB's perspective the more time that I've spent on this earth. However, I have no problem with a person saying they are spiritual and being thankful for their blessings. However, I do get a case of the hebbie jeebies when someone starts talking like their God is doing them favors because he likes them better than someone else who is now in a less advantageous position due to whatever the person wants to give God credit for.
If God is to take credit for all the good, he must take credit for the bad, too.
Sure, God won you that Oscar, the Superbowl and the lottery, but he also made you ugly and gave you cancer.
God? What he has done lately to stop the Legion of Doom's sinister plans? Has he even bothered to learn how to command a galaxy class starship in case the Borg decide to invade before the Vulcans arrive?
Now, I know the answer. He's too busy trying to make sure that either the Boston Red Sox, the New York Yankees, or the Atlanta Braves win the damn World Series every damn freakin' year to sign up with the Justice League or at least attend Starfleet Academy.
And here's a heads up. The Justice League was fully behind the Cleveland Indians- so this is going to be a bad year for everybody. Be on the lookout for Baterangs falling out of the sky at random. If you're outside and and back starts feeling a little warm, you're more than likely getting hit with Superman's heat ray vision.
You have been forewarned.
Wow, go out of town for the weekend . . .
Chris, I think jedi and Spike mirror my thoughts on this.
The Rockies exec certainly didn't sound like he was offering generic thanks for being blessed to be able to do what he did for a living, but spoke of a specific pro-Rockies result (indeed, the UK story in the post mused that it was a second "Hand of God" moment, with all that implies).
Similarly, the real aggravation is that the players who credit God or Jesus for their good fortune never take the logical counterpoint that the same entity must be involved when they mess up. I heard a blurb on the radio about a woman in San Diego whose house had burned down, but the family Bible was found intact, which she considered a miraculous gift from God. Does she therefore think God let the rest of the house burn down? Probably not.
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