I still remember the state championship baseball game of my junior year in high school very well. We were playing in Minden in front of a large crowd and were playing a very good Catholic High team out of Baton Rouge. We were in extra innings and down by two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning. The first two batters got on base and Catholic was making a pitching change. They were taking out their left-handed starter that had been so tough on us that day. I was the next hitter and as a I watched the new pitcher warm up, I thought it was going to be a good match up for me. He was a right-hander and throwing a very hittable pitch as he warmed up. I had visions of not only driving in two runs to tie the game but eventually scoring the winning run!
I could not wait to get into the box to hit, but there was one problem. I looked down the third base line and coach gave me the bunt signal. I know, the strategy should be to bunt the runners over to second and third with no one out, but I knew I could drive the ball hard somewhere. Surely, I misunderstood the sign. I stepped back out and looked at him again – I guess thinking he might change his mind. Nope, still that bunt sign. Those brief thoughts of getting a big hit in extra innings and scoring the winning run were gone. Best case, I bunt, move the runners over, hope my teammates get hits, and we win the game.
Sure enough, I got the bunt down, moved the runners over, and was thrown out at first. One batter later, our cleanup hitter hits a three-run homer to win the state championship game. All’s well that ends well, and I was obviously elated to win along with my teammates, but forty-one years later, I think about what it would have been like to get a hit in that situation. I mean, no one remembers who got the bunt down, but everyone remembers who hit the homerun.
Baseball is reflective of life in many ways. There are going to be times in life that we are called on and need to sacrifice for others. There are other times that the situation just presents itself, and we need to make that sacrifice as well. The sacrifice may not be recognized or remembered. A sacrifice is to give up something for the sake of something else. In my case, it was giving up my chance to get a hit to put our team in a better position to win the game. In life, sacrifices come in a variety of ways, but all involve giving up something for the sake of something or someone else.
In reality, in a world with so much focus on self and many seeking to “live their best life”, we could probably use a resurgence of sacrifice. Wouldn’t our community and world be a better place if we all made an effort to seek out opportunities to sacrifice and do for others by elevating their needs above our own at times? A community full of people sacrificing for one another will be a community with workplaces, non-profit organizations, and schools unified and known for their care and support for one another. Who wouldn’t want that? But it all starts with denying self and seeking what’s best for others (community, team, etc.).
I’ll never know what it’s like to score the winning run in a state championship game, but I will also remember what it was like to be on those teams and experience relationships with those teammates and coaches. If I had the chance to do it again, I would gladly lay down that bunt for those guys…unless of course coach let me swing away!
