Baseball as a Road to God

Nothing like reading a book your University President wrote and loving it.  John Sexton’s class, Baseball as a Road to God is now a book, and yes I read the autographed copy he recently gave me (for being awarded the inaugural Team Achievement Award for our NYU Welcomes You program).  There are so many connections to the ritual that is baseball to the world of religion, and in true baseball form, Sexton has the “nine-innings” format for the nine chapters to review the ideas of: Sacred space, sacred time; faith; doubt; conversion; miracles; blessings and curses; saints and sinners; community and nostalgia.  I had no idea how much baseball lore John had and how he was able to weave it throughout the book.  The course uses the “great books” of our time to help illustrate the idea that baseball, like religion, is something that develops us and has the components outlined above.  There were significant reflections shared that I have heard previously and I felt like I was sitting in a room with this phenomenal teacher who captivates you into the journey of life.  John’s life was made to be a teacher, giving lessons on the trials and tribulations of man, fragile and imperfect, but with the ability to do incredible things in life through the use of our gifts and talents.  John, as many in his younger days, lost the thing every young boy (and girl) love… their baseball team.  When the Brooklyn Dodgers left for Los Angeles so too was an end of an era for all those who bled Dodger Blue.  Much of the story is motivated by the “push for greed” by the owner, Walter O’Malley, in an effort to bring baseball to Hollywood”.  This eventually led John, and all of the Brooklynites to determine if they need to be “converted” to another team, which John did when his son was a young boy.  The Yankees became the benefactor of the move as John now has the traditions and love for the Bronx Bombers.  The story of the conversion and how it happens to people is “perfectly understood” and he brings others into the story of the change of loyalties.  World Series highlights, individual successes on the field, personal challenges for players off the field, and strange but true amazing “coincidences” within games/stats are all shared in this “gotta read” for anyone who loves the game and wonders how it connects to so many things in our lives, including whether we believe in a spiritual being.  It is a great feeling to read something that someone you know and admire has written.  I would highly suggest this to any baseball lover, and to anyone who wants to think more deeply on life’s important questions.