wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] In World Series win, some players and fans see the

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Note #8555 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

04485
October 29, 2004

In World Series win, some players and fans see the hand of a higher power

by G. Jeffrey MacDonald
Religion News Service

BOSTON - Ecstatic with their first World Series championship in 86 years,
fans of the never-say-die Boston Red Sox are preparing to enshrine this
team's players as bigger-than-life legends who overcame the infamous Curse of
the Bambino.

	But as the Fenway faithful gear up to pay them homage, the heroes of
this Cinderella story have another idea, one that's giving pause for thought
to famously reticent New Englanders. For this achievement, say many Sox
players, give God the glory.

	"I don't believe in curses," said Red Sox pitcher Pedro Martinez in
an oft-repeated clubhouse sentiment after a four-game sweep of the St. Louis
Cardinals. "I just believe in God, and he was the one who helped us today."

	Such religious testimonies from high-profile athletes are nothing new
in American sports, but in Boston they are as rare as Yankee fans. Never
before this year has a local professional team shared its faith in God so
intentionally and openly with this region where religion is largely regarded
as a personal, private matter.

	This year, however, was different. Players recruited from the Bible
Belt and Latin America not only beat back the ghosts of series past, they
described themselves consistently in interviews as players blessed by God -
not cursed by a trade many years ago involving Babe Ruth.

	Now that the trophy has arrived and all ears are trained on the
city's biggest stars, adoring fans can't help but hear what Manny Ramirez,
Tim Wakefield, Jason Varitek, Bill Mueller and others have to say about the
divine source of their strength. And although few expect to be converted by
their words, fans seem willing to learn whatever their beloved team's tale
can teach them about the meaning of life.

	"You can't say God's on one team and not another. That's pretty
parochial," said Ralph Nesson, a Massachusetts native and a Reform Jew who
now displays a Fenway Park sticker on his pickup truck in Fayetteville, AR.
"Yet here's a story of a team and all the people who have forever been
disappointed ... This shows if you pray and hope and try hard, things can go
your way."

	In the rocky land first settled by stoic Puritans, tradition runs
deep in religion as in baseball. Churchgoers fondly claim the nickname of the
"frozen chosen"; they like to think in church, and to keep preachers guessing
about how they really feel.

	If anything can stir up New Englanders' passions, though, it's their
beloved Red Sox. And that gives hope to those who pray God might use Sox
players in a regional revival.

	"If people ever tell me New Englanders aren't emotional people, I
tell them that's a lie," said Rev. David Midwood, president of Vision New
England, the region's largest evangelistic organization. His evidence? He was
there when the Sox beat the Anaheim Angels in the playoffs this year. After
the ninth inning, the crowd exploded with cheers and tears of joy.

	"We have a powerful opportunity now to engage our culture in
conversation. We can ask, 'What do you think of (Red Sox ace pitcher) Curt
Schilling? Did you hear what he said the other night about why he could play
with an injury that would have incapacitated most people? Did you ever have
an encounter with God like that?'"

	For Boston's news media, where the Sox' faith in God has been a story
unexplored, Schilling's bloody ankle from a stitched up tendon injury has
emerged as the quintessential emblem of grit mustered this year to overcome
every adversary. But for Schilling, his performance despite the pain was a
sign of something bigger.

	"I've got to say, I became a Christian seven years ago, and I've
never in my life been touched by God as I was tonight," Schilling said after
dominating the Yankees in game six of the storied American League
Championship Series. "I tried to go out and do it myself in game one, and you
saw what happened. Tonight was God's work on the mound."

	Such testimonies do little to inspire Cassie Cassler, 64, of
Newburyport, MA. She proudly wore her Red Sox T-shirt to breakfast Thursday
(Oct. 28) at the Fish Tale Diner on the Merrimac River in Salisbury, MA, 40
miles north of Boston. But when the players start to witness, she loses
interest.

	"That doesn't affect me," Cassler said. "If I want to believe, it's
not going to be because an athlete said something about God... It smacks a
little bit of proselytizing. This is not supposed to be your platform for
proselytizing."

	In the diner, a riverside hut where baseball matters almost as much
as fishing, 43-year-old Kim Scheidegger of Newburyport said it's not
coincidence that a faith-filled team was the one that finally broke the
alleged curse. The reason: The Sox had always been nagged by a loss of
confidence down the stretch, but this team seemed to tap a source that
wouldn't give out.

	"Whether other people believe or not, it helps an individual with
their self-esteem and confidence to believe they can do it," said
Scheidegger, an observant Roman Catholic. "That's what religion is all about.
You're a family that comes together. So now it's not just an individual. It's
a team strength."

	Whether or not faith in God helped bring the championship home and
banish the dreaded curse, one thing is certain: New England's preachers can
no longer use the Red Sox as the ultimate example of faith in things unseen.
They and their parishioners have, to their own amazement, at last grabbed
hold of baseball's Holy Grail.

	"No more can we use the Red Sox as an example of sheer perseverance,"
said the Rev. Patrick Gray, assistant priest at The Church of the Advent, an
Episcopal church on Beacon Hill in Boston. "So how do we use the Red Sox now
that they've reached the Promised Land? Well, to say perseverance pays off."

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