Pitching is upsetting timing

Warren Spahn had a pretty straight forward approach to pitching. He once described his approach on the mound: "Hitting is timing. Pitching is upsetting timing." He seemed to have something there.

He won more games than any other left handed pitcher with an amazing 363. He won more than any post 1920 live ball era. Generally he is thought to be the best pitcher ever. Of course, he played for the Braves while they were in Boston. He played for 21 seasons. All of that was in the National League.

For 13 different seasons, he won 20 games or more. Even when he was 42, he could go 23-7. He won the Cy Young Award in 1957 and was runner up three times. He made it into the Hall of Fame in 1973.

And, did I mention, he played for the Braves?

Life without Phil Niekro. Atlanta Braves

Life without Phil Niekro. Atlanta Braves in 1984. http://ow.ly/5RtOQ

One bad moment

"You can't let one bad moment spoil a bunch of good ones." ~~Dale Earnhardt

Life without Phil Niekro (1984)

1984 brought a whole new course for the Atlanta Braves. It would be a year with Phil Niekro. After two decades, he was now a New York Yankee. He won 16 games with the Yankees. No one on the Braves could match that.

The Braves had an 80-82 record, tied for second in the West. They were 12 games behind the leader. It was Joe Torre's 3rd year as Manager. Having a sub-.500 record wasn't good news for anyone.

How can I help?

Here is what Jesus did. He didn't make it easy on himself by avoiding anything. Particularly when it came to people and relationships. He waded right in and He helped out. So am I strong in the faith? Do I lend a hand to those who are struggling? Or do I just look for the "easy way"?

My approach and attitude should always be, "How can I help?"

May I find how our Father wants me to help!!!

Those of us who are strong and able in the faith need to step in and lend a hand to those who falter, and not just do what is most convenient for us. Strength is for service, not status. Each one of us needs to look after the good of the people around us, asking ourselves, "How can I help?" Romans 15:1-4

That's exactly what Jesus did. He didn't make it easy for himself by avoiding people's troubles, but waded right in and helped out. "I took on the troubles of the troubled," is the way Scripture puts it. Even if it was written in Scripture long ago, you can be sure it's written for us. God wants the combination of his steady, constant calling and warm, personal counsel in Scripture to come to characterize us, keeping us alert for whatever he will do next. May our dependably steady and warmly personal God develop maturity in you so that you get along with each other as well as Jesus gets along with us all. Then we'll be a choir—not our voices only, but our very lives singing in harmony in a stunning anthem to the God and Father of our Master Jesus!

It is so true

Interesting demotion (1876)

Joseph Borden could not replace Al Spalding in 1876. The Braves (then known as the Red Stockings) got pretty frustrated with him. How much? So much so they demoted him. Moved him to the bullpin? Nope. Moved him to the bench? Nope.

They made him a groundskeeper. They didn't want him to pitch anymore but needed to get something for what they were paying him. OK, this was the first year of the National League and the rules were a little different. OK, they were a lot different.

Making it happen

I do need to give this more consideration. I ought to be thinking, “How do I spur my friends on to love?” What would I be doing different? How would that look? Am I helping them do good? 

May I make it happen. May I make it happen today.

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Hebrews10:24

Doing what God said

He is God. That means He knows what He is doing even if I don't get it. His answer is the right answer. His timing is the right timing. He is God.

My job is give it to Him and trust Him. He cares about me in ways I can't understand.

Yep, He is God and He isn't going to stop being God. May I live my life that way.

So if you find life difficult because you're doing what God said, take it in stride. Trust him. He knows what he's doing, and he'll keep on doing it. 1 Peter 4:17

 

 

The Year (1948)

How long would the Braves wait patiently under Billy Southworth for a pennant? 1948 was the year. The Braves finished in first with a record of 91-62, 6 & 1/2 games ahead.

The reward came to "Spahn and Sain and pray for rain." It was a long draught. Not since 1914 had they come in first. And, it was almost an all-Boston World Series.

When I am inadequate

Paul wasn't afraid to admit that he was inadequate. Now that is something. In fact, he was scared to death.

So where did that lead him? Straight to God. He is able. Nothing is impossible with Him.  The Holy Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead was in Paul and is in me.

I was unsure of how to go about this, and felt totally inadequate—I was scared to death, if you want the truth of it—and so nothing I said could have impressed you or anyone else. But the Message came through anyway. God's Spirit and God's power did it, which made it clear that your life of faith is a response to God's power, not to some fancy mental or emotional footwork by me or anyone else. 1 Corinthians 2:3-5

Work equals believing

I look at the question and it seems pretty reasonable to me. But Jesus blew them (and me) away with the answer. They were asking an "old plan" question. The "old plan" has a whole bunch of what must I do stuff.

Jesus gave them some "new plan" answers. This was in fact good news. Here it is. BELIEVE!! That is the new plan. Work equals believing.

Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.' Then they asked him, 'What must we do to do the works God requires?' Jesus answered, 'The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.' John 6:27-29

Am I confident enough to endure to get God's promise?

Many of our struggles about faith have to do with timing. We believe, at least in theory that God will keep His promises - but when?

Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. Hebrews 10:35-36

A cost to following

Wow!! There can be a cost to following Jesus. Our Father, please comfort and redeem this family.

A Muslim father cut out his daughter’s tongue and lit her on fire upon learning that she had become a Christian. The child became curious about Jesus Christ after she read Christian material online, the Gulf News reported. Her father read her Internet conversation, detached her tongue and burned her to death “following a heated debate on religion,” according to an International Christian Concern report.

Promises

Not one single promise has failed. How powerful those words. His word is filled to the brim with promises and not one has failed. How silly and shallow I am to even attempt to walk in doubt and fear. I have a promise of hope and a future, a promise of life and that more abundant. The ups and the downs they are part of the promise. He promises He will hold my hand, he will direct my path, he will give wisdom without resentment....not one single promise has failed. 

 As you can see, I'm about to go the way we all end up going. Know this with all your heart, with everything in you, that not one detail has failed of all the good things God, your God, promised you. It has all happened. Nothing's left undone—not so much as a word. Joshua 23:14 

Now 10,000 wins is a lot in anybody's book (2011)

There is baseball history and then there is HISTORY. 10,000 wins counts as HISTOR.  Gosh, that was fun. The Braves got their 10,000th win as a franchise, Martin Prado returned to the lineup with two hits, including a homer, the Nats committed five errors, and Livan Hernandez was the losing, humiliated pitcher. All in all, a good night.

The Nats actually opened the scoring off of Tim Hudson, two singles and a groundout in the first making it 1-0. But that was all they would get, all, night, as they rarely even threatened from then out. In the bottom of the inning, Jordan Schafer reached and went to second on a pair of errors. With one out, Jason Heyward walked, and Freddie Freeman singled in Schafer to tie it. Dan Uggla doubled home Heyward, and another error, off the bat of David Ross (who is apparently now Hudson’s personal catcher, don’t ask me) scored Freeman. Nate McLouth‘s single to score Uggla made it 4-1, but Ross was Snitkered on an Alex Gonzalez single to more or less end the threat.

In the third, Hudson singled in Ross to make it 5-1. Prado homered leading off the fourth, Livan’s last inning. The Braves put it away in the sixth. Hudson doubled over the right fielder’s head leading off, then went to third on a wild pitch. Schafer walked, then Prado and Heyward singled to make it 8-1. Uggla reached on an error to make it 9-1, but the Braves wound up leaving the bases loaded. Freeman doubled in two in the seventh to make it 11-1.

Scott Linebrink pitched the eighth, loading the bases before getting out of it. George Sherrill threw a perfect ninth. I guess the situation was just too high-leverage for Scott Proctor.

No excuses. Seriously, we have none.

Oh how we all love excuses. God doesn't and we don't have any. The Apostle Paul knew that at his core. We should as well.

And if anyone thought he had some, Paul probably did. He was raised as a very good religous person. He did all the right things. But one day Jesus confronted him. None of it mattered. Jesus brilliance blinded him. Why was Paul persecuting  Jesus? That was the question. Silence. No EXCUSE. And then God healed him.

No excuses. Period.  End of story.

 So nobody has a good excuse. Romans 1:19

Like the "energizer bunny" but only real

Some days things don't look good. All I have to do is listen to the news to know that. Bad news at every turn. That is the way of the world.

God has a goal that has nothing to do with that. We don't lose heart when we are listening to Him. It doesn't matter what is going on around us. Trouble brings His mighty and awesome outcomes. We see a reality, in Him, that others don't know exists. We have our gaze fixed on Him. Today's trouble is no comparison to His love which goes on like Him, forever. There is no end to it. Like the "energizer bunny" but only real.

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 TNIV Bible

The Yes of Jesus

God makes a promise. Jesus says YES to it. The Holy Spirit makes it happen in us. Jesus is the great "So Be It" of God. So when Jesus says YES and we agree with Him, the power comes forth. God affirms us in Him. He makes it a sure thing. God puts the YES of Jesus in us. He has sealed His pledge with His Spirit.

This is the complete promise of a beginning in the new plan. His goal will be achieved. That is the YES of Jesus.

Failure isn't fatal

"Success isn't permanent and failure isn't fatal." -Mike Ditka

Say a quiet yes to God

Am I as serious as I need to be? Am I really serious?

I will yell a loud no to the Devil. I am a new creation. He is completely defeated already. I am fully redemmed. I will say a quiet yes to God.

May I always remember to say YES and he will be with me!!

So let God work his will in you. Yell a loud no to the Devil and watch him scamper. Say a quiet yes to God and he'll be there in no time. Quit dabbling in missing God's goals. Purify your inner life. Quit playing the field. Hit bottom, and cry your eyes out. The fun and games are over. Get serious, really serious. Get down on your knees before the Master; it's the only way you'll get on your feet. James 4

The beginning of the end in Milwaukee (1964)

He steps to the podium. The cameras are rolling. He strikes an ominous tone. It is March 5, 1964. Atlanta Mayor Ivan Allen, Jr. announces a major league team will move to the city if we build it. Seriously, if we build it, they will come. But he can't say who the team is. The next day, the city approved an $18 million stadium to be built. On April 15, the work began to build it. AND, they would come.

So, the rumors swirled aroung the Milwaukee Braves. They denied it. They began their 12th season in Milwaukee. It was Bobby Bragan's second season as the manager. They ended up in fifth, a little better than the year before. An 88-74 record and despite being fifth, they were only 5 games back. Now that is a tight finish.

Jesus was not in an election

Before Jesus, the High Priest had to offer up sacrifices to blot out the continuous nature of our missing God's goal. He also had to do this for himself as well since he missed God's goal as well. Jesus, God's son, offered up himself, who never missed God's goal for his life. God set him aside for this role. He is now our High Priest.  We share in his new plan. It was the perfect plan, perfectly executed. Only Jesus could do it for us.

Jesus wasn't elected to this position. God, His Father, appointed Him. No populare vote here. No democracy in God's world. His decision and it was perfect. Thanks be to our magnificent Leader!!

No one elects himself to this honored position of High Priest. He's called to it by God, as Aaron was. Neither did Christ presume to set himself up as high priest, but was set apart by the One who said to him, "You're my Son; today I celebrate you!" In another place God declares, "You're a priest forever in the royal order of Melchizedek." Hebrews 5:40-16

Like picking horses (1969)

Billy Southworth was considered a "genious on the diamond".

He lived a long life. At age 76, in 1969, he died in Columbus, Ohio. He had emphysema. What is said at the funeral is always a tribute. One of Billy's former players on the 1948 Braves was there. He was Clint Conatser. Here is his tribute.

"He just had a gut feeling about the right thing to do in a situation," Conatser recalled. "The moves he would make would work for him — all the time, not occasionally. Leo Durocher was the same way. It's like some guys can pick horses out of nowhere. Southworth was a genius like that on the diamond."

Harvard

Billy Southworth was born William Harrison Southworth. The year was 1893 and that was in Harvard, Nebraska. He died in 1969. He saw a lot of baseball for sure. He played the game and was a right fielder and center fielder. He played the game in 1913, 1915 and from 1918 to 1929. He batted left-handed and threw right-handed.

Southworth turned to managing in 1929. He then took a break until 1940 and kept going until 1951. He was finally inducted into the hall of fame in 2008.

Unlike me, he decided to play baseball against his father's wishes. He didn't do to bad. He batted .300 three times in his career.

Can you hit this? (1944)

The Braves have had some great knuckleballers over the years. The story of the 1944 season was the 31 year-old knuckleball expert Jim Tobin. He was also a pretty good hitter. But clearly he became one of the most un-hittable pitchers of his time. If you have ever faced a decent knuckleballer, you know how a great one could lock you out.

So let's take nine days in April of 1944. Tobin on gave up 4 hits. So how many games did he win? How about 2 of 3. Here is how it worked out. It started with a 3 hitter he lost against the Giants. So, back to mound on his next start. He beat Philadelphia this time. It was a one-hitter. So, four days rest and back at it. So oh my goodness, the sixth no-hitter in the Braves history. It hadn't happened since 1916. Down went Brooklyn, losing 2-0. He allowed 2 walks.

Here is the kicker. In the eight inning he hit a home run. He was the first pitcher to throw a no-hitter and hit a home run. Not a bad day.

Who is your hero?

Who is your hero? We ask that a lot. Who do we look up to?

Jesus should be the centerpiece of everything I do and think. God is the builder. Heros are the employees who do the work at the edges. Jesus is the architect of everything. He is in charge of all that God created and built. He was completely faithful and got done all that God gave Him to do.

So, my dear Christian friends, companions in following this call to the heights, take a good hard look at Jesus. He's the centerpiece of everything we believe, faithful in everything God gave him to do. Moses was also faithful, but Jesus gets far more honor. A builder is more valuable than a building any day. Every house has a builder, but the Builder behind them all is God. Moses did a good job in God's house, but it was all servant work, getting things ready for what was to come. Christ as Son is in charge of the house. Hebrews 3:1-6

No more Rabbit (1934)

It was a so so season for the Braves in 1934 but the worst part of it was losing Rabbit Maranville. They had a 78-873 record finishing 16 games behind in fourth place. It was Bill McKechnie's 5th season but this went the most of them did during his tenure.

Rabbit Maranville, even at age 42, was playing some pretty good ball so there was hope as the season started. It was his 24th season and he had become a Boston and National legend.

"When Rabbit Maranville breaks a leg right at the start of the opening of the season, that constitutes America's greatest crisis, and if anybody reading this had to ask who Rabbit is, then you should be made to show your citizenship papers." -- Will Rogers

So, on March 28th, Rabbit's career came to an end when he broke his leg sliding home on a double steal during an exhibition game with the Yankees. The leg was set on the field while Rabbit smoked a cigarette. He didn't play that year at all.

Not a club to belong to (1924)

Is there a club for managers who loose 100 games? Probably not and you don't hear a lot about it.

Loosing 100 games as a manager is devastating. Doing it twice in row is inviting disaster. Somehow Fred Tenney did it as the Boston manager in 1907. Fred Mitchell, however, couldn't do it after 1922 - 23.

So, in came Dave Bancroft. How did he do? Lost 100!! Yep, he was 53-100 finishing eight and 40 games behind. Go figure.

Dave was known for being a pretty bright guy. He came to us from the Giants. Who did he bring with him? Well, a pretty eccentric outfielder. Casey Stengel was the man. Bill Cunningham came with Casey. Out went Bill Southworth and Joe Oeschger.

Work with a smile on my face

My work is not for myself. My work is for our God. That allows me to have an amazing attitude and smile when others might not. It allows me to go beyond what others might do since my mission is to please him. And so, with Joshua I say "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord".

I am really serving God. It is that simple. That makes all the difference in everything I do.

Servants, respectfully obey your earthly masters but always with an eye to obeying the real master, Christ. Don't just do what you have to do to get by, but work heartily, as Christ's servants doing what God wants you to do. And work with a smile on your face, always keeping in mind that no matter who happens to be giving the orders, you're really serving God. Good work will get you good pay from the Master, regardless of whether you are slave or free. Ephesians 6:5-8

 

Tommy Holmes (1951)

Tommy Holmes had his Major League baseball debut with the Boston Braves in 1942. Here is some background on him.

• He was an outfielder. He batted and threw as a lefty.


• He was born (March 29, 1917) in Brooklyn. No wonder he wanted to play baseball.


• His last game was for his home team Brooklyn Dodgers in 1952.


• He managed the Braves in 1951 and 1952.


• He was a two time All-Star in 1945 and 1948

He died in 2010 in Boca Raton, Florida at the ripe old age of 91. May he rest in peace.

Always in control

I need to change my mind (repent).

His government (Kingdom) is not a democracy. I have been raised to see democracy as the best form of government. And for us, it is. But He wasn't elected. His way isn't determined by a majority vote. He has always been in control. He doesn't need our permission to make a decision. It has always been that way. It always will.

He has a new plan. It isn't based on anything we know. Jesus put an end to that. No more trying to do good to please him. He is in charge of His country. He is in a good mood as a Father would be toward His children.

Chaos (1904)

Things were in chaos in 1904 for the Beaneaters (now the Atlanta Braves). They brought Al Buckenberger back for a 3rd season as manager after Frank Selee left. This was the worst season in its 29 year history. They finished seventh, 51 games the leader with a 55-98 record. Pretty miserable for sure. One of the owners, James Billings sold out to Arthur Soden and William Conant.

The Beaneaters were made to look even worse (hard to imagine) in Boston because the American League Pilgrams repeated as champions. A former star from the Beaneaters, Bill Dinneen, pitched an amazing record setting 37 consecutive complete games. Imagine that. He also became a hero by putting out a hotel fire.

Possibilities

Imagine being a young woman. You are a virgin. An angel shows up and lets you know you are going to give birth to the Son of God. You ask how that can be since you are a virgin. He lets you know that the Spirit of God will make it happen AND nothing is impossible with God.

NOTHING. Not a thing. EVERYTHING is possible.This word of God has been challenging my heart and soul lately. I know I have had things I didn't believe God could do. I am leaning in to hear the word of our Father. If he says it, I can count on it. Nothing is impossible.

So here is the deal. When the Angel said nothing is impossible, Mary said, "I am the LORD's servant. May it be to me as you have said." Then a little while later Elizabeth (John the Baptist's mother) said "Happy woman, who believed what God said, believed every word would come true!"

For nothing is impossible with God. Luke 1:37

May I have faith to believe our LORD. Nothing is impossible.