Is God A Baseball Fan? I Believe He Is!

I love baseball! As much as I can let it frustrate me at times when my favorite team winds up on the losing end of a contest, when all is said and done I love baseball!
One of my earliest memories I have is that of walking up to my mom when I was still just four years old while carrying a baseball bat and ball in my hand and asking her on a daily basis in that summer of 1965, "Mom, will you pitch to me?" She spent many hours that summer tossing ball after ball to me, and I loved every minute of it!
All of my own four children love baseball, too, and I am glad that I have been blessed where I can still play the game with them. And because my boys have been raised wisely, I can say with pride that they are all St. Louis Cardinals baseball fans, and we love to watch their games together during the summer.
Tonight is the 79th Major League Baseball All-Star Game, and I know that in my household we will be tuning in to this midsummer classic. Just last night while watching the Home Run Derby I commented to my son, Daniel, that the All-Star Game was always something I looked forward to so much when I was younger. I can still see Pete Rose racing towards home plate with the winning run following a single off the bat of Jim Hickman in the bottom of the 12th inning at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati, the year the vote was given back to the fans. Or who could ever forget the big blasts hit out of the park at Tigers Stadium in Detroit in 1971 by six future members of the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame (Johnny Bench, Henry Aaron, Reggie Jackson, Frank Robinson, Harmon Killebrew and Roberto Clemente), with Jackson's monstrous shot sailing into the light tower on the roof of the stadium being measured at 520 feet? Killebrew's home run came off a pitch thrown from yet another future member of Cooperstown in that classic, Ferguson Jenkins.
I can not help but believe that God Himself is a big baseball fan, for twice in the Bible we can find references to rallies having taken place: "In the big inning," (Genesis 1:1 and John 1:1). We also can find that God was a professional baseball fan because He would bless the man who built a ball field to play on, and the price paid for the homers hit by Barley was set at fifty shekels of silver: "And if a man shall sanctify unto Jehovah part of the field of his possession, then your estimation shall be according to the sowing thereof: the sowing of a homer of Barley shall be valued at fifty shekels of silver." (Leviticus 27:16) If the man gave up his field following the winning of the World Series, a jubilant and joyous occasion, indeed, the price paid for the land was to go up, though: "If he sanctify his field from the year of jubilee, according to your estimation it shall stand. But if he sanctify his field after the jubilee, then the priest shall reckon unto him the money according to the years that remain unto the year of jubilee; and an abatement shall be made from your estimation." (Leviticus 27-17-18) In the case of the Cubs, we see that the value is really piling up, for the year of jubilee now stands at 100 years and counting for Cubs fans! God also understood the value of having players who are willing to make the other team’s pitchers work, which is why He was so fond of players who walked with Him (1 John 1:7). One of the best at walking was a scrappy ballplayer named Enoch, and God took him as a first round pick (Genesis 5:24). Enoch knew that walks meant runs, and he had a really long career of 300 years walking with God. The purpose of getting on base, as you all know, is to make it home, and Enoch surely did (Hebrews 11:5). And finally, we see that God really enjoys knowing just how far those monster shots go, for we are told in Ezekiel 45:11, " . . . the measure thereof shall be after the homer." And we can see God is a big baseball fan because He sent His Son to throw out the most famous pitch of all time, the Sermon on the Mound! He was also the best reliever the game has ever seen with the greatest endurance of all time, amassing an amazing 3,000 saves in one day alone (Acts 2:41)! But He did not sit back and rest on His laurels for He broke His own record by getting 5,000 saves in one day later on (Acts 4:4)!

Jesus had a few encounters with His major opponents at the time, the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and they were always trying to steal signs from Him (Matthew 12:39). But as He always did, He shut them down. The only sign He said He would give them was the sign of Jonah, who was a whale of a ballplayer in his own day as well! The Sadducees might as well have given up in the first place even before trying to take on the pitches of Jesus. Why, they did not even believe in Angels, one of God’s favorite teams, so they did not stand a ghost of a chance against the Lord!
We can also see how the Children of Israel formed a power hitting ball club of their own during spring training one year, the Wilderness Wandering Quails: "And the people rose up all that day, and all the night, and all the next day, and gathered the Quails: he that gathered least gathered ten homers: and they spread them all abroad for themselves round about the camp." (Numbers 11:32) The Quails eventually relocated to Missouri and changed their name to become the Saint Louis Cardinals, which are one of God's two favorite teams, the other being the Los Angeles Angels.
Jesus showed He could handle the bat as well. The crafty pitcher, Satan, tried tempting Jesus with some alluring pitches of his own, but after Jesus drove his best three pitches out of the park, Satan left the Lord for a whole season (Luke 4:13), and the Angels team ministered to Him (Matthew 4:1)!

I found an interesting poem by a man named Arthur Longbrake, a man who also has clearly studied God's word and understands himself how baseball is God's favorite game. I present it to you now, and it is called Brother Noah Gave Out Checks For Rain.

"My sermon today," said Reverend Jones,
"is baseball and whence it came.
"Now, if you take the Good Book and you take a good look,
"you will find the first Baseball Game.

"It says Eve stole first, Adam second;
"Solomon umpired the game.
"Rebecca went to the well with a pitcher,
"And Ruth in the field made a name.

"Goliath was struck out by David —
"A base hit was made on Abel by Cain,
"And the Prodigal Son made a great home-run.
"Brother Noah gave checks out for rain.

"Jonah wailed — went down swinging.
"Later he popped up again.
"A lion-drive by ole Nebuchadnezzar
"Made Daniel warm-up in the pen.

"Delilah was pitching to Samson,
"When he brought down the house with a clout,
"And the Angels that day made a double-play
"That's when Adam and Eve were thrown out.

"Ole St. Pete was checking errors,
"Also had charge of the gate.
"Salome sacrificed Big John the Baptist
"Who wound up ahead on the plate.

"Satan was pitching that apple
"And looked as though he might fan 'em all,
"But then Joshua let go a mighty blow
"And blasted one right at the wall.

"And then the Lord wound up and took good aim,
"And started the very First Baseball Game.
"And, now we all know the way that the game was begun,
"And to this very day — It's still Number One!"