Sox Thoughts

So lately the Sox have played well enough for me to put my panic button away but there are a few concerns/complaints/opinions I still have. For one the Sox have had some great starts lately, the problem is the guy catching them is 39 years old and can’t bat my dog’s weight. We all love Tek, he’s the captain, he makes the team better just being on the field. A good catcher has that effect on a team. Likewise a bad catcher makes a good team worse, Salty has had that effect. The problem is this, Salty is the starting catcher, he’s young, he can hit, but to command a team he needs to earn respect and establish himself as the unofficial captain. If you think of the catcher as the pilot, conductor, maestro… then the guy in charge needs to know what he’s doing. Salty has to pick it up because there’s no way Varitek can catch more than 60 games this year. Second the offense is getting better but… The reason the game last night went to 11 innings was the offense, the reason the Sox won was pitching. Not too much good from there. The acquisitions of Crawford and Gonzalez were supposed to help the offense; so far the offense has not been very clutch. They would have lost that game last year, but the bullpen this year was able to hold the Angels down. The Sox need to work on timely and situational hitting to do well against better teams. The Jays may leave a few over the plate, but the Angels, Yankees, and Rays won’t. Well those are my thoughts, the Sox are 7-11 so hopefully they’ll be back at .500 soon and get back in the race.

A Hope Fulfilled

I have got to say that I am disappointed in myself. Here I am, in Holy Week, and not blogging. The two best times of year (post-quality wise, not quantity - that would be August) are Christmas and Easter. Unfortunately I have not had much time to sit down with my Bible this week as it has been very hectic in my life lately (in a good way though). Still, that does not mean I have not done my fair share of thinking. This week I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about hope. Ever since I wrote my first post about hope titled “Hope” I can’t stop thinking about it. It seems my crisis of hope is gone, for now at least. Now back to Easter, Easter is about the Gospel, which means Good News, and good news brings hope so then we can conclude that, really, Easter is about hope. You know when something really bad happens and you still cling to that hope that maybe, just maybe, it didn’t? I do. There are many examples that come to mind but one in particular shook me from a young age. I had a dog named Daisy, she was a wonderful dog. She was very well behaved, loving, and extremely chubby. But Daisy was diagnosed with cancer and died at the age of three. I remember waking up to go to school and seeing Daisy lying on the floor unable to move and knowing that I wouldn’t see her again. I held her close, prayed, and that was all I could do. All day I clung to the hope that when I got back she would be there as she always was, barking wildly at the door and jumping up to give me a kiss. But she wasn’t and I was devastated. Well the Gospels fulfilled that hope, through that my hope is fulfilled. When Jesus died the disciples felt the same way, I can imagine Peter biting his nails, pacing back and forth, hearing a knock at the door and hoping in the back of his mind that it is Jesus. Imagine his surprise when he sees him standing there! Through the Gospels Jesus defeated death, he didn’t defy it and he certainly didn’t cheat it, he defeated it fair and square and in doing so we have hope. Hope that one day, not in this life though, I will see Daisy, and not only her but Dutch, my great grandparents, my great uncles, and every other family member I lost (and unfortunately with time will lose) and love. The Good News is good because it gives hope to the hopeless. It is a message of faith and love that says “If you just hold on, if you just wait on God, He will fulfill your promise.” At one moment in history hope was fulfilled in a miraculous way, and because of that, our hopes can be fulfilled in the same way through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross.

Faith Put To The Test

I was reading the Psalms the other day and came across a verse that I feel describes how I am feeling lately. The verse is Psalm 115:1 “Not to us, O Lord, not to us but to your name be the glory because of your love and faithfulness.” With what has happened lately with baseball all I can say is “God to you be the glory.” Let’s revisit the scenario in detail: there was a lot standing up against me, for one the last time I tried out was two years ago when I was cut. Second around December an elbow injury blew up putting a stop on my baseball and weight training. Third a few weeks before tryouts a back spasm grew into a lumbar strain (don’t ask) preventing me from performing the most basic of tasks. Yet through all that here I am with a healthy elbow (yet weak arm) and nearly-painless back yet most importantly a varsity letter and the lucky number 13 on my back. So to whom do I owe thanks? Not to myself, heck no, I almost gave up. Tay Tay get’s no credit here, he almost gave up (yes I am referring to myself in the third person), it was from God I got my strength and was able to keep on going. Never satisfied with giving up I sucked in my pride, knelt down on my knees, and begged God for an answer. “Why?” I asked, “Why do I continue to do this?” To which God gave me the strength to keep on going. You see it’s not just about baseball; it’s not just about the varsity letter or my uniform. It’s about God making me eat my words a bit and learn about humility. Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Well God had me prove it, and ask for help in doing so. Now I know that no matter the odds (being a calculus person, not a statistics person I don’t care for odds much anyways) I can accomplish anything. It’s not about baseball, it’s about faith and not giving up and now I know that with Christ I can do all things.

New Picture

Here's a picture of Ted Williams (best hitter of all time) to help us remember that...well since the Sox stink we need a good memory and Ted's my favorite player of all time so I chose him. Enjoy, and hopefully the Sox will start winning soon.

Just A Guess

So lately I’ve been reading Ezekiel, and unfortunately (due to struggling to keep up with school while playing a varsity sport) have not given it the attention it deserves. Ezekiel is so rich in imagery and takes a great look at the heart and mind of God. I should blog about it more, but of course, I probably will some other time. Anyway time for a philosophical debate, sounds like fun right? In Ezekiel 18:23 God states “Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? … Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their wicked ways and live?” A lot of people seem to like to give me a hard time by claiming God is not just and instead mean and unforgiving. While sometimes I may try to explain it all away saying “Oh….well….they sort of deserved it” which is not really the correct response. That is because it says here that God takes no pleasure in the suffering of the wicked. God created them too. God created Mother Theresa but He also created Hitler. Now which does He love more? Trick question the answer is neither A nor B. Am I saying Hitler is innocent? NO, he was terrible and evil, but the thing that we can’t forget is he was created by God. God loves everyone simply because they were made by Him in His image. So then if God takes no pleasure in His judgment then why carry it out? Well here’s my thought (Disclaimer this is my own reasoning which I find all too limited in the realm of sophisticated theology) what if God didn’t step in; what if Sodom and Gomorrah stood and spread sin elsewhere, what if the Romans conquered all of Europe and made Christianity illegal, what if Hitler won WWII? Well the world would be a terrible place. On the small scale it may seem that evil wins and sadly it does sometimes. But what if God stood by every time and let the world gradually destroy itself? God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but neither does He take pleasure in the death of the innocent at the hands of the wicked. Is life a rosy walk down easy street? No, but does good often triumph in the end? Yes. I’m not sure if I’m right, then again no one truly knows the answer to the big questions out there; all I offer is a guess.

The Impossible Dream

Sorry for the lack of posting, playing varsity baseball has been demanding. Wait…did I just say that? Yes, after four years of never giving up and doubting myself I finally made the team in my last chance to try out. Last year I didn’t try out, I gave up (so I thought), and instead played summer ball. This year I casually dropped in a few comments on how I “would like to try out” and that I “didn’t count on making it.” Well I guess I was wrong when I said I’d probably end up doing track for the second year in a row. To me it’s not just about baseball; it’s about the strength God gave me to keep trying and pushing forward. I have to admit I lost faith in myself along the way, I doubted (along with many) that I could make the team, but I never gave hope and didn’t stop praying for strength. The thing is, this is much more than a story about baseball. It’s a story about perseverance and strength, it’s about not giving up despite the odds being stacked against you. I may have lost faith in myself but I never gave up, and neither did God. It’s not just baseball that I can accomplish, it’s every challenge that life may throw at me. Now I truly know that “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” I’ve always said Philippians 4:13 is the verse I live by and now I only believe it more.

Opening Day Thoughts and Ramblings

Opening day was yesterday and before anyone thinks this is one of those “The Red Sox stink!” posts they’re wrong. I was pretty happy with the game yesterday; it’s basically what I had expected. Lester is never good in April, he usually picks up his form in May, but to expect him to throw a no hitter in his first start is out of the question. The offense was good as expected. Ellsbury, Pedroia, and Youk made me forge the injury ridden season last year and look forward to a bright season. Gonzalez showed us why he could possibly be one of the best hitters of our generation as he went 2-3 (against a lefty no less!) after having a limited Spring Training. Who knows, it could be Ted Williams all over again (although that may be a stretch, I’d put Gonzo at .320-.330 avg). The only worry I have is Carl Crawford. This is not because he went 0-4, but then again it is related to that. Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe noted that Crawford looks like he’s trying too hard to earn his (very high) contract. I agree. Crawford wasn’t focusing on the basics of hitting as he set himself up with this gigantic pull swing aiming to hit a home run at every at bat to prove he is worth $20 million per year. All I can say is look to Gonzalez and Ortiz (homer to left), drive the ball up the middle or to the opposite field instead of pulling way out in front. C.J. Wilson saw this and threw curve ball after curve ball only for Crawford to wave helplessly unable to make contact. I’m sure Crawford will pick up the pace soon, but in order to hit the way the fans expect him he needs to relax and focus on driving the ball up the middle, then the homers will come. Well there’s some Sox analysis and baseball advice and ramblings thrown in, it’s going to be a long and interesting season, can’t wait for game 2.