Pastor’s Heart OP-ED BY DR. ROBERT KENNEDY
For whatever reason, of all the sports that are played in the United States of America, my wife and I fell in love with baseball.
Our book Life Maps Legacy uses baseball as its underpinning. I will not say more than that my residency in the United States started in New York City. I was studying at Columbia University and pastoring in the Bronx. After settling in the city, we had to find ways of having fun with our sons. My wife and I declared that we were Mets Fans, while our sons chose the Yankees.
At home, we often debated each team’s merits, and which one was most likely to be the winner. As you might know already, our sons’ team was always on the winning side. But it was not the love for a particular team that was of interest to me. I was intrigued by the life lessons that I saw in baseball. Here are twelve lessons that I have gathered from baseball over the years.
1. Baseball is a game for dreamers. It teaches a person to reach their goal in any way possible. You might not reach it the very first time, but at least you’re trying to follow your dreams.
2. Baseball teaches how to handle failures. Striking out does not mean the end of the world. It’s OK to fail sometimes. It just means that a person is human, and you can try again.
3. Baseball calls attention to excellence. Anything that isn’t one’s best is unacceptable. Choosing to do anything sub-par ends with sub-par results.
4. Baseball is all about teamwork. Working with a team is the best way to play baseball.
5. To play baseball you have to “keep your eye on the ball.” To be effective, one has to always keep one’s eye on the ball. If one loses focus, one will fail.
6. One cannot play baseball for the cameras. One has to play by focusing on the game.
7. Baseball demands hard work. One has to always try one’s best. That’s when all of your experience, knowledge, and training pay off.
8. Cheaters never win in the long haul of baseball. If you’re going to do something, do it right. Success is not achieved through shortcuts.
9. Sacrifice is necessary for the most crucial moments. In baseball, during the last moments of a game, a player can be told to do a sacrifice bunt or fly to get a run in, but getting out themselves. Sometimes you have to sacrifice your wants/needs for the better of others.
10. You cannot play baseball by yourself. Although you may want to do everything by yourself, you will need the help of others. They can help you reach that goal you’ve been desperate to reach.
11. In baseball, the brain is the most important muscle. Most people think that baseball is a sport of muscle. And it is, but the brain helps you more than anything. Muscle is essential, but it can’t solve everything like your brain does.
12. Baseball is played one inning at a time. If you try to think about the next inning, you are sure to lose. You must focus on one thought at a time.
My reason for this reflection is not so much to speak of baseball as the game that I love or the life lessons that I observe above, but that each year I have listened carefully to those selected to the Hall of Fame. I just noted that this year no player has been selected. The Baseball Writers’ Association of America elected no one.
As I have heard, the claim is that some of the eligible players like Roger Clemens, and Barry Bonds, who were prospects, were not voted in. The ongoing discussions suggest that there was a lack of support on their ballots because they had used enhancement drugs.
In the ultimate, the dialogue on the candidacy of Bonds, Clemens, Schilling, Rodriguez and Ortiz will be a complicated, convoluted, and obfuscated mess. Why? The consensus is that Hall of Famers must reflect positive character. Willie Geist states that even if they are voted in, a note should be placed on their plaques, stating that they used drugs to enhance their game. On which basis, I would argue that Pete Rose should get in too.
I am excited that the point concerning character is made, but I wish it wouldn’t be just about baseball players and the Baseball Hall of Fame or sports, but about other leaders in our society. In fact, what we have noted in the leadership in our nation for the last few years is that we need more leaders of character. In the leadership of our land, we have turned our Halls of Fame into Halls of Shame. We do not care about character and are willing to put any person in any position because, we say we love them. Leaders can do what they do, rather than show character.
Yes, what of character in leadership? As I always do at the end of my reflections, I must remind you as a reader that God cares about character. Pastor Rick Warren says, “God’s goal is your character, not your comfort.” In the Bible, we are told that “A good name (character) is to be chosen over great riches and God’s favor rather than silver and gold.” (Proverbs 22:1)
We must emphasize the significance of character. There are many character qualities that one needs in leadership and everyday life, but I we need to make sure we call put as priorities “self-control,” and “integrity.”
These qualities are given the most attention because they radiate from our private lives into the public world. If more attention were given to character, even in baseball, there would be more accountability.
