I wonder what I will remember in the years to come about the game I saw between the Birmingham Barons and the Chattanooga Lookouts. Will there be someone who breaks through into the majors that I saw playing before they were famous? Can the Lookouts climb from next to last into the playoffs? Is it possible that it will just be a game with interesting memories because I got my hair cut in the “seat” along the third base line, shared great views with family, and connected with the true spirit of the game? Any of the above could be true – the memories are already embedded.
The fact is that minor league baseball required dedication on all sides. The game can be exciting and boring, all in the same evening. Our game clearly had both elements! The players knew the crowd was small, all of 2,300, which in turn makes toiling in the big cities of Mobile, Huntsville, Birmingham, and Chattanooga even more difficult. I doubt that many of those present saw it that way. The crowd was quiet yet appropriately raucous in the right spots. The players ran out every ground ball and expressed their emotions when things didn’t go how they expected. All in all it was a ballgame played with intensity and dedication.
It would be easy to wonder aloud about those dedicated to a true witness for God. I doubted the street preacher in front of the stadium last night but maybe one will be saved because of his willingness to do what he believes God called him to do on that night. John “saw the souls of those beheaded because of their witness to Jesus and the Word of God, who refused to worship either the Beast or his image, refused to take his mark on forehead or hand—they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years!” (Revelation 20.5) They played the game of life just like the Lookouts last night; with intensity, dedication, and knowledge that few would know about what happened. Are we players in the game?
