It’s a Texas/San Francisco World Series!!!!!!

And, probably unlike most sports prognosticators, I predicted that to happen

Before I go out to stock up on ginger ale for the first game on Wednesday (Tim Lincecum vs. Cliff Lee? Yes, please!), I must share a very thoughtful piece by George Vecsey in the New York Times about (yes, you guessed it) Josh Hamilton.

Vecsey compares Hamilton to Mickey Mantle, another great baseball player beset by addictions, but one who didn’t enjoy the help and support that Hamilton has received:

That Hamilton became the most valuable player in the Rangers’ American League Championship Series victory against the Yankees is a tribute to him, but also to the forces he allowed into his life. He came along in an age not only of vast salaries and crack cocaine and steroids and electronic blather but also in a time when addiction treatment has been integrated into organized sport.

Religion has always been around the clubhouse, but now it was intertwined with the techniques of rehabilitation, for those who wanted it. The Tampa Bay organization and Major League Baseball, to their credit, kept sending Hamilton to programs until it took, day by day.

Powerless Mickey Mantle was allowed to pursue the traditional vices — alcohol, promiscuity — by the code of the time.

Hamilton, who, like me, is a devout Christian, has given God a lot of the credit for his recovery.
But his life reminds me that the Christian life is not something lived alone. Instead, it has to be done in community - by getting connected to others who challenge us, hold us accountable and even celebrate with us.
Of course, Hamilton has gotten lots of love from non-Christians as well, including some of his teammates, and that shouldn’t be discounted at all, but appreciated.

All in all, it should be a great series - and I’ll be happy and grateful no matter who wins.

(Photo of Tim Lincecum by UCinternational from Wikimedia Commons, because I like to spread the love around.)