How Could You?!

In May of 2005, on consecutive nights, I took several boys, then girls from my junior high Bible class to watch a game at Minute Maid Park in Houston. It is a real time to build friendships and be more than a teacher & preacher to the kids.

Morgan Ensberg had fallen out of favor with me; I do not like how often he takes called strikes, especially with men in scoring position. That is the season he had been moved into the middle of the order and was supposed to be a run producer, which he is capable of being. In fact in the middle of the season, he went on a power surge that saw him finish 4th in the MVP voting. But that makes it all the more galling when he gets called out in scoring situation.

The night the girls were there, Ensberg had struck out in his first two at bats. He also made THREE errors at third base. When he made the third error, I booed him. Now I sit in the front row of the 4th level of the park, but I figure that if you are going to boo, you might as well give the player a chance to hear you. So I was loud.

As we left the stadium, Emillie said, “Mr. Ralph, you are a preacher, how could you boo like that?” In all sincerity, I replied, “Emillie, I am a preacher and Ensberg needed to repent, and I was just letting him know!”

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