Half Way

All Stars

Half way, looking back and looking ahead. Any baseball fan will be happy to go on and on about the importance of stats. A couple of years ago a guy named Billy Beane, of "Money Ball" fame, demonstrated, with the creation of several new statistical categories, once and for all that baseball, maybe more then any other sport lives on the narrative of the past. Every game we witness the reality; should this left-handed pitcher stay in the game against this left handed hitter, or does the batter feed on lefties. Two outs in the ninth, one run down, should we steal second on this catcher, or does he have a real cannon. It's kind of like us people of faith, only our narrative is not based on probabilities, by on the Biblical text.

So let's look at this comparison. As much as the numbers can tell us about what an individual player may have a tendency to do in the future, it cannot tell us the future of his team. Remember 1969? Well probably not, but I do. Baltimore had on paper the best team in baseball, they won a whooping 109 games. The Mets on the other hand, had never won more then 76 games a year, before '69. With a third year virtually unknown pitcher, a guy named Seaver, and just average position players, the preseason line was another sub-par year for the boys that played in Shea. It never really was a series, the Mets took it in five.

There are folks out there that want to look at Scripture and forecast the future too. John's Apocalypse, Jesus, little apocalypses in Matthew, and Mark. Once again, just a month or so ago a preacher who had "read the signs" right prepared his community for the end of the world. After the end did not come, one of the followers was asked why he stayed in the cult. "I have no where else to go," he said, "I gave everything up to be here."

You watch. There are some great surprises to come in the second half. Pay attention to players who don't make the All-Star game line-up, one or two of them will make the difference between now and October. It's not over until the 27th out (not even then if there's a tie). As a player, as a fan, as a child of God, dig in, swing when it's in the strike zone, and cheer your team mates on.