Last night was a night worth celebrating for New York Met fans, and being
one since 1962, their first year, I am rejoicing. The Mets are going to the
World Series! And all is well. And I know, because it hasn’t always been so
cheering for the Mets. Growing up in the New York Metro area you were either a
Mets or Yankee fan. When the Dodgers and Giants left in 1957, a void filled the
city for National League baseball, and many barely endured the drought. You
didn’t switch your allegiance to the Yankees, because they didn’t represent
baseball to the people as the Dodgers and Giants had. And when the Mets were
formed for 1962, they could hardly wait. Baseball was back, brought to them by
George Weiss, an ex-Yankee exec, and Donald Grant, another ex-Yankee. They even
modeled the new uniforms after the old, Dodger blue letters with Giant gold
outline, even Yankee pinstripes on home uniforms. The NY on the caps the old
Giant gold logo, but on a blue Dodger cap. Let’s play ball!
And they did, losing 120 games their first year, and not much better the
second. But it didn’t matter, the National League was back in New York, and
with players like Felix “Wrong Way” Mantilla, Pumpsie Green, Marvelous Marv,
Elio Chacon, Hot Rod Kanehl, and Choo Choo Coleman, we loved them all. Roger
Craig lost 20 games. We still cheered for him. Even Ralph Kiner, ex home run
hitter for the Pirates before he hurt his back and retired, did play by play,
and had a show after the game, Kiner’s Corner, where he used Kinerisms long
before Yogi did. And one eventful interview with Choo Choo after a game. When
asked his wife’s name, he replied, “Mrs. Coleman.” Not helping much, when Kiner
asked “what does she like?” he answered, “she likes me.” End of interview. And
we loved it. And all brought together by one Charles Dillon Stengel, aka
Casey. Who had managed the Yankees to 13 pennants, and 10 World Series wins.
And you could watch on channel 9, the old Dodger network. Proving to some that
there is a God, and he loves National League baseball!
But until 1969 they never had a winning season, still outdrew the Yankees,
but that year it was to change. They had been known as “the Amazin’s Mets,” or
just the Amazin’s, but now they were “the Miracle Mets,” overcoming a 100 to 1
long shot to be in the World Series. We all remember the night Gary Gentry
pitched them into first place in August. How Jamie Qualls broke up Tom Seaver’s
no-hitter in the 8th, again a Cub. How they swept the Braves in the first
League Championship Series, and beat the Orioles is 5 games! Thanks to our high
school being under construction, I was home that afternoon to watch with Just
and Abner, and when Davey Johnson, who would later manage the 1986 Mets to a
World Series Championship, flied out to Cleon Jones in left, we went nuts.
Abner thrust a bayonet into the ceiling, and cheers could be heard everywhere
throughout the nighborhood. The Mets were World Champs! And it was only
fitting that Gil Hodges, another old Dodger managed them! Schools were closed
the next day, but we went to celebrate with our friends. School was out, the
Mets were in, and all was well with the world. TV’s had been brought to school
that day to watch, and now they had won. Never again would New York baseball
ever be the same, nor their fans, years of drought were finally rewarded, Yankee
fans even cheered, maybe not knowing why, and all the world was a Mets fan. For
the Mets and their fans it all changed in 1969. The same year we put a man on
the moon. One giant step for he told us, but that October all the world was a
Met fan. And watching them beat the Chicago Cubs last night brought it all
back.
I had quit watching baseball for a few years, but my ears perked up when I
heard the Mets were in the playoffs. New names, kids to me, but that old “Let’s
go Mets” cheer still sang in my heart. How many years we cheered with no
victory, and now they were going to the World Series for the fifth time. And
visions of Seaver, Koosman, and Jones danced in my head. Ed “never throw a
slider to the Glider” Charles. Jerry Grote, Donn Clendenon. Tommie Agee’s and
Ron Swoboda’s incredible catches. Today was yesterday all over again! All was
forgiven, the Mets had won.
I had never not been a Met fan, but I quit following them for a few years.
My ears only perking up when I heard the name mentioned. Not a non-believer,
not a backslider, just too busy with other things I guess. It happens with
people and God too. Sometimes the excitement, the church experience, and a
miracle wear off over time. Some call it backsliding, but you can also put
other things in front of God in priority. You don’t lose your salvation, you
just don’t enjoy it first hand. But God hasn’t forgotten you. Paul had to
address the Corinthian church over this, losing their first love. They attended
church, tithed, and did all the things the church required. But they also went
back into serious sin, as if all sin isn’t serious. They committed sin such as
sleeping with their father’s new wife, and many things hidden but unto God.
They had come to Jesus, they were saved, and would even teach about him. But
something had happened, they lost their first love, and other things, a spirit
of anti-Christ, in place of Christ, took over. And Paul’s letter and directive
probably amazed them, and still does today. He told them “STOP!” Not you’ll
lose your salvation, but stop and repent and turn back to Christ. A message
many will not apply today. It seems Christians love to kill the wounded, and
isolate the sick and dying. Jesus told us to visit the sick, to not forget
those in jail, and to love the unlovely. And each time we do it, we are doing
it unto him. We all will sin again today and tomorrow, but Jesus Christ remains
the same. Testimonies come out of tough times, and Jesus never left us, never
forsakes us, and never turns from us. We do! And when we come to terms that
are actions are sin, then we can truly repent, and go on from there. He had
made the atonement for our sins, and all are blotted out. Even the new ones yet
to come.
The hardest person we will ever forgive is ourself, the one we think we
know best. But if God can forgive us, do we know better than God? Did Jesus
die in vain for only some of our sins? Are we rewriting a new scripture out of
pride? So next time you think “God could never forgive what I’ve done,” if he
has he did, and if you haven’t asked he will. Welcome back my friends to the
show that never ends.....eternal life in heaven. Forever to celebrate.
The Mets celebrated last night, but still have a World Series to play.
Only a short time to celebrate. And whoever wins the World Series will start
all over next year. Once forgiven, we are always forgiven in and by Jesus
Christ. We may not win every game, but we are in the playoffs every day. And
when the names are called, we are Series winners, on a bigger field than any
stadium. So don’t be like an old Giant or Dodger fan, don’t wait until a new
ball club comes to be your savior. Don’t put off the celebration or the
relationship with Jesus one more inning. Or game. We win! We just have to
play the game. We have Jesus to save, the spirit to manage, and God to root for
us. And so I am rooting for the Mets again, and no one seems to have missed
me. God misses you, and is still waiting patiently for your return. Good seats
still available, and you can watch live. You can be in the action. Return now
to your first love, and don’t look back. The best is yet to come. Let’s go
Mets! I’ll be watching. Will you?
love with compassion,
Mike
matthew25biker.blogspot.com