Every Kid Oughta See This….

Many of you know what a crazy baseball mom I am. Two sons on four teams; one a right-handed pitcher; one a southpaw. (That’s a lefty for you non-baseball crowd) :-)

I counted and this year, as parents, Todd and I will sit through over 95 games. Not to mention the many the Mitch, our 15 year-old, will ump at the city fields as his summer job.

There will be hits, errors, runs and wild pitches; diving catches, near collisions in the outfield, and several strike outs.

And, there will also be some close calls.

And some bad ones.

A horrible call was made last night during our beloved Detroit Tigers ballgame. The pitcher, Armando Galarraga, was one out away from a perfect game–a real rarity in baseball. (Again, for you non-baseball crowd, this means in every one of the nine innings, the first three batters get out. No one ever gets on base.)

For the 27th out and to clinch that perfect game, the batter hit a ball near second base. The fielder snagged it and threw it to first.

The batter was out.

There was just one slight problem.

The ump called him safe.

What I thought would ensue after such a botched call did.

Fans booed.

Players were incredulous.

The Tigers manager went out and had a rather heated talk with that blind…um…I mean…that first base ump.

But something made me stop dead in my tracks.

Galarraga, the pitcher, just smiled.

No cursing.

No arguing.

No throwing his mitt at the ump.

No scene.

When questioned later he simply said, “I understand that nobody’s perfect, and it’s a hard job. Hopefully (a perfect game) will happen again. But I’ll tell you something: I’m going to keep that CD (of the game), and I’ll tell my son, ‘I got one. It’s not in the book. It’s not official. But I got one.’ ”

People…every one of us should learn to respond with such grace.

Watch it for yourself.

Better yet, call your kiddos over and have them watch it. Whether they are in sports, music, techy stuff or the chess club, they’ll face officials and umps and refs too. And, as parents, we will be there watching in the stands.

How will we respond?

What an amazing ball player.

No, not his pitching arm.

His heart.

“The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.” Luke 6:45

8 Comments

  1. I was unable to view the video because it was taken down due to copyright issues. However, even though we are not a baseball watching family, we do have 3 kids who play many other sports (soccer, lacrosse, field hockey, etc.) and have witnessed our share of bad calls and bad sportsmanship, usually by parents unfortunately. Thank you for this post, it is certainly a teachable moment.

  2. Oh, Karen, I have watched this story all day on ESPN. I just don’t tire of hearing it and watching it. Then today at the game watching the two men interact with such forgiveness and humility. It is such a lesson for all of us!!! Thank you for sharing this with us today.

    Blessings,

    Wendy

  3. Ohhhhhhh… Noooooooo! Wow. That hurts! I can feel the hurt in my stomach. But, I am sooooo impressed with how the whole team handled that. Even the Manager… there was no kicking, spitting, throwing of equipment, etc. that is usually seen after something like that. My boys both have played baseball since they could hold a bat (they’ve also played basketball and football seems like foreeeeever) and we have seen some REALLLY bad calls in their sports careers. I can honestly say both of my boys have been respectful of those calls and taken them as a lesson learned. My husband, as coach and father, has also had to restrain himself many times (even though it’s been very hard sometimes). Sometimes his anger and frustration has gotten the better of him but he apologized to his team kids and let them know that’s not the way to handle those situations. I am proud of all 3 of my boys. It’s the officials with an agenda that need some work.

  4. I was very touched by his composure and reaction to the bad call as well. What a testimony! We all can learn from this. Good reminder.

  5. Oh Karen, I’m not much of a baseball fan, but I’m weeping right now. Not for the unjust loss of Galarraga’s perfect game, but b/c of the line drive God just hit that smacked me right between my eyes.

    “The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.” Luke 6:45

    There are some really hurtful things happening in my family these days, & I confess, I’ve resorted to behind-the-back name calling. My potty mouth has returned when speaking of this individual. I can actually feel my anger tense my muscles, rumble in my stomach, & I totally know where the expression “my blood is boiling” is coming from. Yes, it feels like it is.

    I totally trust God’s sovereignty is this and every situation, but yet it’s hard not to be angry at the hurt is is causing, especially, the little, innocent ones whom it is most directly affecting. I know that God has a plan to redeem all of this. I told one family member that we can’t appreciate the calm until we’ve been thru the storm. Well, now I’m sea sick.

    Thank you for my heart check this morning. I’m not liking where it is regarding this situation, & I’m going straight from my laptop to my knees. Forgive me, Lord. Holy spirit, fill me w/ grace & peace. I don’t have to understand or approve, all I have to do is trust, and I do.
    ?

  6. I agree. We watched this last night after getting home with our 10 year old after his ball game. A game where his coach had to have a stern talking to the players about sportsmanship. We saw the interview and over and over I was impressed with Galarraga.

  7. My husband pointed that out to our son, Will. He’s 7 and he plays on a little league team here.

    Galarraga is phenomenal, in more ways than one. The last inning of that game last night was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *