Who’s on the bump today?

Prior to any baseball season, teams spend a great deal of time preparing for the upcoming season with the hopes of winning a championship. One of the major components of any baseball team is pitching. Every team has what they will define as their number one. The pitcher with this designation is often characterized by having multiple pitches that they can command in the strike zone coupled with the competitiveness that allows them to pitch deep into the game giving their team a great chance to win. If a team is fortunate enough to make it to its respective championship game, it would be favorable to have their number one available for that game.

Coaches know that many times their number one may get into trouble and in preparation for this moment they have designated a pitcher as a closer. The closer is oftentimes characterized as a hard thrower that can come in and pound the strike zone to slam the door shut on the opponent to win the game.

Due to the physical nature of pitching, it is unrealistic for the same player to pitch every inning of every game. Teams try to develop pitching depth both in the starting role as well as in the bullpen to give their team the best chance to have quality arms on the bump inning after inning. Starters will often pitch until fatigue sets in or they get into trouble and it is at this point the coach will make the call to the bullpen for a fresh arm to try and salvage the game.

I have come to the realization that every day I wake up I am playing the game of life. Through much reflection, it has become very clear to me that I have put myself on the bump every day. As a coach, I would never think about putting the same player on the mound game after game. Knowing the human body has limitations, why would I choose to continue to put myself out there to battle every single day? How do I handle the game when I get in trouble? Simple, I go to the bullpen.

I have discovered a major flaw in my pitching strategy after all these years. For years now, I have continued to start every game on the mound and when trouble starts I make the call to the bullpen where God was my number one reliever. He would enter the game and salvage the win for me and then back to the bullpen until trouble strikes again. This pattern has been repeated over and over again, game after game.

Another flaw in my game strategy has been holding the perspective that each day is like playing in the first inning, knowing that I had a lot of game left to either try and extend my lead or rally back if I was down by a few runs.

I am in a season of my life where I am changing both my pitching strategy and perspective on the game. It has become clear that every day is the last inning of the championship game and as mentioned earlier it is favorable to have your best pitcher on the mound for the “ship”. There is no promise for extra innings for we do not know when the game will end. As far as pitching goes, why would I keep my best pitcher in the bullpen during the championship game? I have decided to move God to the starting role on the mound each and every inning. As a human, I have abilities that are finite but God has no bounds. God knows the weakness of every opponent and has an unhittable pitch in His arsenal to get them out. God never fatigues and has the endurance and strength to start and finish every game. This strategy will guarantee victory in the championship.

Why has it taken so long to realize the errors in my strategies? Through self-reflection on the seasons of my life, I will try to figure out what blinded my ability to see the errors, but I know that by the grace of God every game I play from here on out will be won because God will be pitching for me.

Who’s on the bump for you today??