Not by Sight

New York Yankee outfielder Ibanez stepped up to the plate and hit a tying solo shot to right-center with one out in the ninth off baseball's best closer, than hit another home run in the 12th inning to win a playoff game against the Baltimore Orioles a couple of weeks ago.

This unique feat reminded me of a Cubs game my dad took my brother and I to back in 1984 against the St. Louis Cardinals. A game still considered as one of the many historic games in Cubs history because of the unique feat accomplished by Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg: 2 home runs, 7 RBI's, and was 5-6 in hits for the game. The Cubs were battling from behind the whole entire game. Sandberg would hit a home run in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game. In the bottom half of the 10th inning, trailing by 2 runs, Sandberg would tie the game again with a two-run homer. The Cubs went on to win the game in 11 innings.

It is with great displeasure for me to be reminded of this game because we did not get to see the unique finish. To explain why we missed the outcome I would first have to describe who my dad is when it comes to Chicago sports teams. He always was a skeptic when it came to either the lovable losing Chicago Cubs or the Chicago Bears (Chicago sport fans can relate to this). Although my father and I watched sports together, we never saw eye to eye on our teams, thus the reason for the childhood paper route so I could purchase my own television set to watch my own games.

So,  being the skeptic my dad was and being at a Cubs game where they had to keep coming back from large deficits, you could see how we missed this fantastic finish. And if your a Chicagoan and familiar with the lack of parking at Wrigley (I think we had to park 3 miles away), hence my father's reasoning for leaving before the bottom of the ninth heroics, and the tenth inning heroics, and the eleventh inning heroics...okay, I can't take this anymore!!

This momentary lack of faith in a sports moment reminded me of a scripture verse:


For we walk by faith, not by sight. (2 Corinthians 5:7)

There are countless numbers of scripture on walking by faith and not by sight, nor seeing things for the way they really are in the natural and just moving by faith.  A momentary lapse of faith is okay if it is just that, a momentary lapse, and if  we can quickly right the ship and go back to what God says about our situation, than our faith can be reignited.

If we can mix in God's Word on faith and the immortal words of  Yogi Berra, "It ain't over till it's over." than all is not lost.

Yes, even in sports we need faith.