As you know I am a big Dodgers fan. I think the blue blanket I was born with was more because of Dodger Blue than because I was a boy.
I do recall playing ball in the yard with my dad, I even remember breaking a window playing alone then having to explain to him what I did when he got home. But I don’t recall going to any games with him or whether or not he liked baseball. I certainly don’t remember watching games on TV with him.
I do remember starting to watch games in the late 80s after he passed. I remember the sights and smells of my first game, but I don’t recall who it was with, whether it was a Fourth of July game with our church or if it was with a friend who took me under his wing after my dad passed. Although I do believe it may have been an Angel game we went to.
My love peaked with the summer classic of ’88. I was in Jr. High School and counting every scoreless inning of my favorite pitcher, Orel Hershiser. I was excited when they made the World Series. It was exciting to see Kirk Gibson be called in to pinch hit. I was on the phone with a die-hard A’s fan who was making fun of me because Gibson was hobbling with every swing. Then he hit it out. He wasn’t on the phone after the homerun.
Now there was Game One this year. Freeman made history with his heroic grand slam. It was an amazing sight, and another memory made. Freddie has his own story just as Gibbie had his. Gibson came up to bat injured, with two bum legs, and used his arms to win game one.
Freddie has played through the playoffs with a bad ankle. While not as severe, an injury, nonetheless. But here is the kicker. Freddie has something more than a trophy and a ring he is playing for. He is playing for a three-year-old named Max.
During the All-Star game this year, Freddie received a panicked phone call from his wife that his son Max was ill. He left the festivities to be at his family’s side. To make a long story short, his son ended up paralyzed by a rare disease for his age.
Max has steadily been recovering to the excitement of his family and doctors. Today, he healing and learning to walk again.
Through this, Freddie has battled through his own injuries. He has taken the Dodgers through the Championship Series and now the World Series, upsetting his manager when he legs a single into a double or in the case of Game One a double into a triple. Then came the tenth inning of Game One. He didn’t have to leg anything. First pitch swinging he took a high inside pitch and sent it into the same seats Gibbie sent his shot into. A grand slam to win Game One.
While Freddie talks a bit about faith when he talks about his son and belief in healing, he does not talk much about faith otherwise. But it seems to me that a drive like that has to have something behind it.
It takes faith to move mountains. And it takes resilience to endure the things we endure in life. Freddie talked about the day his son was taken off his tubes and how quickly he recovered, pretending he was Spiderman with the IV wires. It is the drive he uses to recover himself; whatever injury he suffers on the field, it pales in comparison. I would assume it is what keeps Freddy pushing Roberts to keep him in the lineup, hobble and all. And he delivers.
We too must endure whatever ails us. If we have a goal to reach or a calling in our life, we must press on to reach that goal; nothing can stop us from achieving it. If God is for us, who can be against us? Stand strong and endure. Stay focused, press on. Success is supposed to be painful. Sometimes the road is not cleared for us to achieve the success we are meant for. There will be pitfalls, there will be detours, there will be sprained ankles or torn ligaments—success is made, not handed to us.
One of my life mottos is Keep on Keeping On. I use it to encourage others to never give up. I am sure both Freddie and Kirk had something inside that was like this. It keeps them focused on moving forward regardless of whatever obstacle jumps up in front of them, and I am fairly confident that faith is part of it.
Prayer is part of it as well. I know that today God sees me through what I have to deal with having Epilepsy. I join with these two men in seeing the big picture and keep on keeping on. There is something bigger than our little temporary ailment. God has bigger plans. And we are the vessel that gets the blessing of being used. Glory to His name.
“I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
— Philippians 3:14
Photo courtesy: https://www.threads.net/@lainaminute
Moments for the Heart 