homerun

I (Kyle) have a million things that I want to write. The unfortunate thing is that I simply cannot write them all down here. Either I would end up spending more time writing than I do actually living my life, or you, the reader, would grow exponentially in the boredom category so that you would stop reading the blog altogether. I'm not a very big fan of either of those options, so I will just share what's on my heart.

I originally wanted to write about Becca's new job from my perspective, but I'm not going to. Instead, I am going to take a reprieve from the story of our lives to share one from that of someone else. Bear with me through the whole story, especially if you are like the 90% of the Alabama citizens who do not like professional baseball. I promise the story will be worth it. And for those of you who already know the story, you can just fast forward to the next entry.

Most of you know that my absolute favorite major league baseball team is the Texas Rangers. The unfortunate thing about my unwavering devotion for this team is that they have been the epitome of mediocrity for the last 8 years or so. And by mediocrity, I actually mean really, really bad. LA Clippers bad. But alas, I remain steadfast in my devotion and continue to check the boxscores everyday to see if the Rangers happened to pull out a victory.

Much to my surprise (especially after having the worst record in the whole league at the end of April), the Rangers are actually doing pretty well. Part of this has to do with the exceptional play of one, Josh Hamilton. And it is here where the story picks up.

In 1999 (keep in my mind, that is almost ten years ago), Josh was drafted first overall by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. And there was good reason to draft him. Josh was one of the most promising a gifted young players that year. It was no-brainer to draft him. However, Josh never made it to the majors. Instead, he spent 4 years in the minors, only one of which was spent above Class A ball (class AA). Then in 2002, Josh left baseball altogether (for a period of time that last three years). Josh had both a drug and alcohol addiction, one that required several trips to rehab. Finally in 2005, he gave it all over to Christ after being confronted by his grandmother about his addiction.

From here, he began to work his way back into baseball. Eventually he made his way to the majors last year (2007), and only played a small portion of the year. He was traded this past winter to the Rangers. This is his first year to play an entire professional season...ever. He leads the league in RBI and is considered by many to be the top candidate for the American League MVP.

Yesterday, and this is the cool part, Josh participated in the Home Run Derby (a competition to see who can hit the most homeruns). The day before, Josh shared that before he was reinstated back into baseball (2005), he had a dream that he was participating in the Home Run Derby at Yankee stadium. When he was done batting, he was interviewed with a mic in his face. Now, fast forward to the actual derby yesterday. Josh was batting last. By the time his turn came, the leader had 8 home runs. Josh came up to bat. He hit homerun after homerun until he had 28 total homeruns for the first round...shattering the previous record of 24. He more than tripled the second place guy. It's pretty amazing considering the guy he chose to pitch to him is a 71 year old man (Clay) who used to throw batting practice to Josh and a bunch of other kids in Raleigh, NC. When he was drafted back in 1999, Josh promised Clay, that he would use him as his pitcher if he was ever invited to the Home Run Derby. As Josh walked away with the entire stadium (it was Yankee stadium, by the way) chanting his name (that's right, New York Yankee fans), he was interviewed on the field with a mic in his face. He was the only player in the first round to be interview like that. At that moment, Josh chose to give glory to God.

Unfortunately, Josh did not win the whole thing because of a rule that says the two remaining players will start the third round at 0. He was probably tired from the first round. But, as the derby ended he was approached with the mic again. And at the moment when he lost, he chose to give glory to his "Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for giving [him] the opportunity."

Everyone knew it was Josh's show. Even the guy who won felt bad and undeserving of the award. In three rounds, he didn't even hit as many homeruns as Josh hit in the first round. But I'm okay with Josh losing. How often does someone get the opportunity to speak the glory of God's name to millions after losing an event. Josh did. That is a rare privilege in a day and age when people scoff at references to Christ by an athlete who has just won an award or the championship. They say, "God, if he even exists, doesn't care about baseball or football to the point where he helps Christians win." And to a certain extent, I will agree with that. I'm not sure that he does. But, I know that my God works everything so that the glory of His name is spread to the masses. And in that losing moment, Josh Hamiltion made himself less with his defeat, and made Christ's name greater to the masses. To God be the glory for the transformation and sanctification that has taken place in Josh's life.