‘Pitchers and catchers’

BISHOP KEVIN J. SWEENEY

For almost all baseball fans, the phrase “pitchers and catchers” has a special meaning, especially in January and early February, when fans will ask one another, “How many days until pitchers and catchers?” For those who may not be baseball fans, the phrase and question refer to something called spring training and the custom that the players who are “pitchers and catchers” report to spring training a few days earlier than the rest of the team. So “pitchers and catchers” reporting for spring training, especially after winters that have been difficult, cold, and snowy, is a sign for baseball fans that winter is almost over and spring is near.

We know that when Jesus spoke with the people of his time, especially in parables, he would speak about things that people were familiar with, such as farming, fishing, and family. St. Paul compared living a life of faith to an athlete competing, running in a race. As I thought about “pitchers and catchers” (they reported to spring training last week), I thought I would take this opportunity to share a few thoughts about the ways in which sports, particularly baseball, have been helpful to me, as they can help us to learn some important lessons.

“Hope springs eternal”

Three (or four) things converge each year as we pass from February into March: I have already mentioned baseball’s spring training, which leads closer and closer to opening day, the beginning of the (regular) baseball season, usually in the last days of March or the first week of April. The weather in this part of the country, please God, begins to get better as we move from the “dead of winter” to the “springing forth of new life,” which we see so beautifully displayed in nature. If you wanted to add another sports item to this list, you could include the “March Madness” of the college basketball national championship tournament, which usually includes at least one “Cinderella story.” On a spiritual level, we move through Lent into Holy Week and Easter, the realization that true hope does not disappoint and that, by his passion, death, and resurrection, Jesus has won the victory over sin and death.

“It ain’t over till it’s over”

Some refer to him as a great philosopher; most just know him as “Yogi.” The words “it ain’t over till it’s over” are attributed to Yogi Berra, who in 1973 said his team still had a chance to win the pennant even though they were very far behind in the pennant race. The words and the phrase have come to symbolize a lesson that many learn in sports and some come to learn in other ways in life: that no matter how bad things may seem, we should never give up, we should never lose hope. One well-known person who learned and shared this lesson in a powerful way was the college basketball coach, Jim Valvano, who gave a famous speech on March 3, 1993, less than two months before he died of cancer. The speech is sometimes called the “Don’t ever give up” speech. If you have never heard it, just Google it and I trust you will be inspired.

“No one bats a thousand”

Baseball is sometimes called a “game of failure” as the most successful hitters will only succeed about 30 percent of the time, also known as a “.300 batting average.” Sports can teach us humility and the importance of learning from our mistakes. To say “no one bats a thousand” is baseball’s way of saying that no one is perfect, but that doesn’t mean we should not try our best and work as hard as we can to be as good as we can be. This is such an important attitude for students in school, in business, in relationships and, yes, in our lives of faith. If we all “batted a thousand” in the spiritual life, there would be no need for the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

“There’s no ‘I’ in team”

I became a Yankees fan in 1977 and ’78. Some may not realize that the Yankees were not very successful in the 1980s and early ’90s. It is an understatement to say that they did very well in the late 1990s, winning four championships in five years. The phrase I used to love to hear about those successful teams was, “the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.” As good as some of the individual players were, they were even better because they played together as a team. We can all be tempted to become selfish at times and focus on our individual goals or desires. Sports can teach us that we can never be truly successful on our own, we all need help and assistance - even the great individual athletes have coaches, trainers, and others who make up their team. As families and as the Church, we can at times struggle to get along, communicate, and work together, but we all need to learn that we need each other and that we have a responsibility toward one another.

I am sure that someone could write a similar article about these and other lessons that we can learn from the arts, music, science, technology, business, or many other areas of our human experience. I share these experiences in the hope that many who enjoy sports and even the casual sports fan might be able to relate. No matter our individual hobbies or interests, let us all hope and pray that we can learn the lessons Jesus wishes to teach us.