Read
“But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…”
Matthew 5:44
Reflect
A lot of people think that baseball is boring. Compared to sports like football and basketball it’s definitely slow-moving, but once you understand the game, it’s far from boring. There’s so much strategy and intrigue that goes on within the game, and at points every at-bat — actually, every pitch — can be filled with tension. That’s especially true when teams are playing each other in a race for the playoffs.
That was the case on August 22, 1965, when the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants squared off in San Francisco. The two teams were locked in a fight for first place, and they both had their ace pitchers on the mound — Sandy Koufax for the Dodgers and Juan Marichal for the Giants. The tension boiled over in the third inning when Koufax was pitching and Marichal was batting. After an ordinary pitch, Dodger catcher John Roseboro threw the ball back to Koufax, and he threw it very close to Marichal’s head in the process. Marichal, angered by the throw, turned and exchanged heated words with Roseboro — and then cracked his bat over Roseboro’s head.
Of course, both benches cleared in a chaotic brawl that took 15 minutes before the game could resume. By the time it was over, Roseboro had a bandage on his head, Marchial was ejected (and suspended eight games and fined $1,750) and the Dodgers ended up losing 4-3. But it was what happened after the game that is the most remarkable.
Many years later both Roseboro and Marichal ended up playing in the same old-timers’ game, and afterward struck up what became a friendship that lasted the rest of their lives. (A book was even written about their friendship.) Roseboro went to the Dominican Republic to visit Marichal, and Marichal enlisted Roseboro’s help in an effort to get into Baseball’s Hall of Fame. It must have helped, because Marichal did get elected to the Hall, and the two often visited each other, as did their families. When Roseboro died in 2002, Marichal was a pallbearer at his funeral and spoke at the memorial service. He said, “Johnny’s forgiving me was one of the best things that happened in my life. It takes special people to forgive.” And he added, “I wish I could have had John Roseboro as my catcher.”
John Roseboro and Juan Marichal were enemies on the field, and when someone cracks your head with a baseball bat it would be easy to extend that strife off the field. But they found a way to make forgive each other and make peace with each other. That’s what our Lord calls us to do — even if the other person isn’t in a peacemaking mood.
Jesus acknowledged that it’s a fairly easy task to extend love to people who love you back, but he called us to a far greater task — to love those who don’t love us. In that way, He said, we would truly “be sons of your Father who is in heaven.” People who care nothing about God or His ways love people close to them. But rarely do you see them reach out to their enemies in love and forgiveness. When that happens you know something special is going on, and you wonder why it’s happening. It stands out — and God wants us to stand out in the midst of a world steeped in bitterness and unforgiveness.
I hope that you don’t have any real enemies, but it’s likely that you do have or will have people who don’t have your best interests at heart. When that happens, please don’t crack them with a bat or even with angry words. Remember our Lord’s call to love people who oppose us and that your love will speak volumes to both your “enemy” and to people who see you act in a way that’s different than what they expect. Your love in that situation will be some of the boldest evangelism they may ever experience.
Reflection copyright © 2021 Doug DeBolt.
