It’s baseball season. There’s nothing like a baseball game to remind you just how slow time can really go by. Baseball has a way of slowing life down for me. It’s a blessing just to sit, talk, watch and of course – eat at the old ballpark. As a boy I loved going with my father to the old wooden Oiler Park Stadium in Tulsa to watch the Oilers play ball– a farm team of the St. Louis Cardinals. I recently introduced my girls to Redhawk Baseball at The Brick. We had a fun evening experiencing baseball and greeting several of our First Church family – not to mention the cotton candy and salted peanuts too!

My nephew Steven is a ball player spending the summer playing ball in Waterloo, IA. He has aspirations of playing Big League Ball. My sister told me yesterday 1 in 60, 000 make it to The Majors, so he has a way to go! In appreciation for “America’s Pastime” and in honor of Dads this Father’s Day; I hope you enjoy this true story from Reader’s Digest entitled “Hall of Fame” Dad.

“They were renovating the museum, putting in a new state of the art humidification system to better protect and preserve those historic items which honor and celebrate the greatest baseball players of all time. They removed all the displays from the museum while the refurbishing work was being done. One of the workers found a picture that had been underneath one of the display cases. The picture was of a man in a 1940’s style baseball uniform. He held a bat on his right shoulder. On his left sleeve, there was an emblem of a small dinosaur.

"The picture was taken to Ted Spencer, the curator of the museum. Ted knew immediately that the man in the picture was not one of the two-hundred sixteen baseball giants honored in the Hall of Fame. Who was he? How did the picture get there? Ted guessed he was probable from some industrial-league team and because of the dinosaur logo, was sponsored by the Sinclair Refining Company. Turning the picture over there was no name, but there was a short message on the back written by the man’s son.
The curator was fascinated by the small mystery so he sent a copy of the photo to his friend, Steve Wolf, at Sports Illustrated. They ran the picture and before long the truth came out. The baseball player in the picture was Joe O’Donnell. His son, Pat, had hidden the picture of his dad under the display case. Why? Because he wanted to put his dad in the Baseball Hall of Fame after his dad died. The message on the back of the picture says this:

"‘Dad, you belong here. You were never too tired to play catch with me. On your days off, you helped build the Little League field. You always came to watch me play. You told me the Hall of Fame was only for the best of the best. Well, you were a Hall-of-Fame Dad, the best of the best. I wish I could share this moment with you. You deserve to be here. Your son, Pat.’

"In August of 1989, Pat had toured the Baseball Hall of Fame and then he noticed a small opening between the bottom of the display case and the floor, when no one was looking, he slid the photo of his dad beneath the case and said, ‘Now dad, you’re in the Hall of Fame.’

"In the fall of 1994, Hall of Fame Curator, Ted Spencer, put Joe O’Donnell’s photo in an envelope. He enclosed a letter explaining the situation. He addressed the letter to any future curator who might fine the envelope. He then put the package back under the display case where Pat had originally put the photograph of his dad. This gave Joe O’Donnell a permanent place in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.”

Every Dad has a permanent place in the heart of his son or daughter. My most valued keepsakes are the few notes or letters I have written by my Dad. Every child of God has a permanent place in His heart as well. Isn’t it great to have a Heavenly Father like that!

Blessings to you! See you this Sunday for Father’s Day!

Yours in Christ,
Mark

P.S. Be sure to bring Dad with you to church this Sunday as we have a special treat just for him!