Sixty Feet Six Inches

Baseball doesn't have the lightning fast action of hockey, the constant scoring of basketball, or the regularly occuring, bone-crushing collisions of football.  It is a sport oft accused of inducing large yawns, and while I disagree, I understand the accusation.  But our national pastime has something those other sports do not... something that, in my mind, is one of the most exciting events in the realm of professional athletics.  Baseball has the physical and psychological match-up between the pitcher and the batter.

We've all felt it.  A one-run game.  Runners on second and third with two outs.  A big hitter steps up to the plate.  The catcher signals his call.  The pitcher starts his delivery.  No matter which team you're rooting for, the anticipation for the next pitch is almost unbearable.  Heaven forbid the batter fouls it off.  Then we have to do it all over again.  

Of God and Baseball

It’s not my intent to proselytize.  Your religious beliefs are a personal decision in which I have no desire to interfere.  I’d merely like to put forward some thoughts for baseball fans, of all faiths, to consider. 

Notice how I say “of all faiths” while not tacking on the socially inclusive “or lack thereof”.  That’s no oversight.  Belief and baseball go hand in hand.  No true fan is completely void of faith.  Even the staunchest atheists find themselves looking to some form of higher power when their team is down by a run with two outs in the ninth inning and their best hitter in the on-deck circle.  There is no inconsistency of theology here.  In fact, the greatest mistake a fan can make is to assume that the God (or gods) professed by the world's religions – a god that hears the prayers of followers and grants mercy to the faithful – is the same god that reigns over a baseball diamond.  I submit to you that it’s not.