Always There

I was reading my Bible yesterday I came across a verse in 2 Peter in chapter 3, it is verse 9, and “The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to repent.” I was shocked by that verse, in a good way. Often times when I sin I feel really, really, bad; of course I should feel guilty about sinning, but one thing I forget is the amazing power of grace. Sometimes I fear that God might leave me, it’s foolish I know, but after my “faith crisis” that fear still persists in my heart. It takes me back to that scene in Jurassic Park where the little girl crises to Dr. Grant asking him not to leave because the wimpy lawyer guy left earlier. I know it’s not the best analogy, but it’s still true. There are times in life when we lose people, or people just plain leave for some reason, but God is there no matter how we act. Now, this is not a license to sin, repaying pure and honest love with abuse and evil is cruel, even crueler than the actual sin itself. What it does mean though, is that we need not worry, while God is a judge He is not out to get us, in contrast He is up there “rooting” for us so that we may come back to Him and repent.

It's all in Your Head

Well I said I would write about hitting so here are more of my tips. For now I will write a little bit about the mental aspect of the game, mainly being a smart hitter. Some people when they here “mental aspect” think “Huh, that’s not important I’ll just wait ‘till he posts about the mechanical parts” but hitting is mainly all up in your head. Having not played much baseball I am constantly learning new things every game and in between seasons, I am constantly making up all these theories about hitting and putting them into practice. Ted Williams wrote about guessing and I wrote a little in my last post but here I am going to go a little deeper. One thing I have tried to do this past year is watch the pitcher, for example what’s his fastball like, when and where does he usually throw it, what’s his curve like, how much does he have off his changeup, does he have a set pattern, is he wild, how tall is he… the list goes on and on, but it is surprising how big the percentage of your at-bat is spent on the bench. I used the example earlier about the kid throwing first pitch fastballs, but there also was one time that I noticed a kid couldn’t get his breaking ball over for a strike, so I told everyone and tried to lay off when it came, or another time I noticed the umpire had an unfairly high strike zone and the kid liked to put his fastballs there, so I struck out looking in my fist at bat, and then made sure to swing away in my next. Then there is guessing, this is a little more complicated and hard to put to practice effectively but it is basically thinking like the pitcher. Let’s say you strike out on a curve in your first at bat, the count is now 0-2, what do you think is coming? A curve of course. Now let’s say the count is 2-0, you’re on top now, a fastball is most likely coming so as to give the pitcher an edge, and remember he has to throw a strike when he’s behind. Lastly a few notes on the 2-strike count. One thing I had trouble with was thinking in the box, I would swing away and throw away quick at-bats instead of grinding them out. When the pitcher is on top 0-2, the pitch doesn’t necessarily have to be a strike but you need to swing if it’s close, even if you don’t like it foul it off and wait for your pitch. If you’re up 2-0, 3-0, or 3-1 you can wait for your pitch but remember that the pitcher must and will throw a strike and most likely the pitch he either has most confidence in or the most control over.

Hitting Tips

I recently got a great gift for Christmas; it was a book, The Science of Hitting written by Ted Williams. I haven’t posted about hitting for a while and I am not going to write a lot now, but I will say that Ted’s book has a ton in it and is a very in depth analysis of the most perfect swing, or at least the one that got Williams to hit .400. Interestingly enough the book is not so much about the physical aspect of hitting as it is mental. And it’s true hitting is all up in your head, it’s about being smart in the batter’s box and taking notes on the bench. Here’s a story, in the summer I watched the pitcher and saw that he could throw some heat! But he also always threw a first pitch fastball, always, so what did I do? I told my teammates and coach (I doubt they really listened) but when I stood up at bat I was geared up for his fastball and I hit a hot grounder up the middle – right to the shortstop. But the point is I noticed a pattern in the game and was ready. Ted calls this guessing and while many coaches tell you “DON’T GUESS!” You need to, that’s what I did and I was actually too ready for it. I’ll elaborate on this later and write a ton more about working on my swing and the adjustments I made in between the summer and fall seasons that blew my productivity through the roof.

A Merry Christmas for All

In my Bible the Old and New Testaments are separated by a few pages, but in reality they were separated by about 500 years. Think about that, 500 years and not a peep from God, gosh, I can barely go 500 seconds without talking! When Jesus came to earth that night it was the first time God had contacted anyone, but something I thought was interesting is the guests at Jesus’ birthday. Think about it, first King Herod wants to kill Him, then the only people that show up to witness His birth are a couple of shepherds, barn animals, and some wise men. The thing I noticed is specifically that, an event that has been predicted for 500 years and that is the welcome wagon! I don’t know what the imperial reception for a king was at the time, but I bet it wasn’t that; Jesus was a King, I know that for sure, but He was a different kind of King. In my Chinese class we watched this touristy video about the “forbidden city” in China which was where the emperor resided, and even now way after the last emperor a lot of stuff is off-limits. Jesus was not off-limits; in contrast He welcomed everyone, even the obscure people. The Shepherd was not a rich or esteemed man, and wise men is really code for astrologer, think about that, people that may have not even believed in the Christ traveled at their own risk to see His birth. Jesus was not off-limits that night, there were not velvet ropes and no sign that said “No flash photography”, no, instead He held out His arms and called us to Him.

Super Cool

I’m not much for the whole “proof for God” thing, I see faith as a gift from God that must be used and overcome our doubts, but I recently learned some really cool stuff in physics about the universe. Basically the universe we live in is extremely complicated, so complicated in fact that even the smartest scientists out there cannot fully explain every detail. The mere shape of the universe is complicated, gravity, space-time, light, all that, it would take years of reading and diagrams and learning to absorb it all. Also the universe is so vast and massive, to think we are but one galaxy in an infinitely growing expanse that has been doing so since its creation, it’s mind boggling and really cool when you sit down and think about it. I’m not going to give a lesson in astronomy (besides I know nothing about it), but I will say that our world, not just outer space but down here on earth is so complicated that it is physically impossible to be created at random. The laws of physics and math and even philosophy are just too complex to have been made out of thin air by nothing. If I threw a bunch of scrabble letters out on to the floor, I would hardly produce a coherent sentence, let alone a single word! But if I sit down at a computer (like I am now) and fit letters together to not only write paragraphs but also a piece of writing with meaning and logical progressions! I just think it’s so cool how God made our universe, and to think that He knows all about it, all those complex ideas that we haven’t an inkling about God designed, how cool is that? Anyway, those are just some thoughts of mine after my physics class.

The True Gift of the Season

As Christmas approaches and we all try to get some last minute Christmas shopping in and on the side wonder what we are getting, I ask that we remember the greatest miracle in the history of the world, Jesus’ birth. While miraculous in itself, one thing we tend to forget is how amazing it is that Jesus came down here to earth, it’s like the Cubs winning the World Series times 1,000,000 (sorry Cubs fans). It used to be that people would go up to the temple and make sacrifices to get rid of their sins, and there was also a strict separation between God and man with the high priest being the only one allowed in the presence of God. But when Jesus came and died on the cross that was all redone, God calls it His “New Covenant” (the first one was with Moses). The author of Hebrews writes about this in an interesting way, he writes “When Christ came as high priest of the good things that are already here, He went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not manmade, that is to say, not a part of this creation…. The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!” Hebrews 9:11, 13-14. Wow is all I can say, if the blood of mere animals can cleanse us, how much more can Christ, wow, it’s a cool thing to think about, and while getting presents on Christmas is great, this is the gift that we really need, the gift that will last in the long run.

Sox News

I heard the news about the Sox signing John Lackey so that’s really good for them. Now they have a rotation of Lester, Beckett, Lackey, Dice-K, and Wakefield, so their pretty much set pitching wise. Now all they need to do is resign Bay, and get Adrian Gonzalez at all costs. As great as Beltre is as a defender he can’t hit all that well which is what the Sox need, hitting. Gonzalez is a great defender and an amazing hitter which will add a ton to an already good team. Hopefully the Red Sox can start up in 2010 and show the Yankees whose boss on opening day.