Something About Yesterday
Dave Faust
I have been a baseball fan for as long as I can remember. Who wouldn't like a sport that features colorful nicknames like Dizzy, Tug, Lefty, Boog, Babe, and Charlie Hustle? Don't hot dogs always taste better at the ballpark on a summer evening? Doesn't every fan want to catch a foul ball and cheer the winning home run?
Over the years I have collected quotes from baseball players. The feisty manager of the Chicago Cubs Leo Durocher observed, "Baseball is like church. Many attend. Few understand." Babe Ruth said, "All ballplayers should quit when it starts to feel as if all the baselines run uphill."
"That's not true at all," retorted Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Don Sutton when asked about rumors he had used a "foreign substance" on the ball. "Vaseline is manufactured right here in the United States!"
New York Mets manager Casey Stengel touched on an interesting leadership principle when he said, "The secret of managing is to keep the guys who hate you away from the guys who are undecided." And Baltimore Orioles manager Earl Weaver pointed out, "It's what you learn after you know it all that counts."
Satchel Paige became famous pitching in the Negro Leagues and finally played in the majors when he was already in his 40s. When asked about his age, Satchel would ask, "How old would you be if you didn't know how old you wuz?" He said, "Age is a question of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter."
Yankees catcher Yogi Berra is famous for his unique way of saying things. Some of his classics include, "It's déjà vu all over again," "You can observe a lot by watching," "When you come to a fork in the road, take it," and "The future ain't what it used to be."
Which leads to my favorite, from Philadelphia Phillies infielder Manny Trillo: "The best thing about baseball is that you can do something about yesterday tomorrow."
I can relate to that, can't you? I made some errors yesterday. But tomorrow I get another chance. Tomorrow I can make some good plays. Tomorrow, I will help my team to win the game.
"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever" (Hebrews 13:8). He has already done something about yesterday. We don't have to be chained to regret and bogged down by our past.
In Christ we are forgiven for the errors we committed yesterday, and there's no reason to worry about tomorrow. Secure in his grace, we can face the future with eagerness and hope, "making the most of every opportunity" (Ephesians 5:16) and capturing every moment for the glory of God.
As Shakespeare put it,
"The day shall not be up so soon as I, To try the fair adventure of tomorrow."
Manny Trillo would have agreed.
This column first appeared in The Lookout on Jul 4, 2004.
Some Said It Thundered
"Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!" (John 12:27, 28).
Songs in the Trees
Far back in a field on the farm where I grew up, there’s a tree our family for decades has called the Saxophone Tree. It’s rooted in the ground atop a creek bank. At first the oak’s two-and-a-half foot thick trunk extends down about eight feet toward the creek. Then, as if it decided to make a U turn and reach toward the sun, the tree stopped growing downward and the trunk abruptly turned straight up again, extending 40 feet or more into the sky. As a result, the tree is shaped like the letter J. It looks like a giant saxophone.