"Dal Maxvill"

While checking to see what sites could be included in the [A Sunday Drive] on AsTheCrackerheadCrumbles for this week a couple of days ago, I ran across a site that is mostly about collecting baseball cards.  This brought up memories of my own long lost collection.

No, I do not know if any of the over 600 [Topps] cards that I had from the 1960s and early 1970s would be very valuable now.  Nonetheless, they were precious to me.

One of the things that made them so special was that I had at least one card of every starter on the [1967 St. Louis Cardinals], who beat [Carl Yastrzemski], who I also had a card of, and the Boston Red Sox in the World Series that year.  For there was Lou Brock in left field, Curt Flood in center, Roger Maris in right, Orlando Cepeda at first base, Julian Javier at second, Mike Shannon at third, Tim McCarver was catching and Bob Gibson, Steve Carlton and Nellie Briles were the main starting pitchers.

Yeah, there was someone playing shortstop for the Cardinals that year, but I couldn’t remember his name to save my soul when I was thinking about my card collection while waiting for sleep to come later that night.  I even tried going through the alphabet and thinking of names that started with each letter, which has appeared to jog my memory in the past.  Nope, not that night.

I finally asked for some help, but none was forthcoming.  That is, at least not until 15-20 minutes later, which is when, “Dal Maxvill,” came to mind (so to speak).  For I want to believe that it was actually our Heavenly Father who told me who was playing shortstop for my beloved Cardinals in 1967.

If asked, the vast majority of professing Christians would insist that what I experienced was nothing more than merely a temporary gap in my memory, and that the Lord God Almighty has better things to do than answer stupid questions like that—even if He was inclined to still seek to communicate with us directly these days.  Where would you want the line drawn between what He would care to get involved in and what He would not?

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The Great Brazilian Beer Company!

Be assured that it has nothing to do with having money to invest in the stock market.  For our Heavenly Father seems bound and determined to have me and my family live by faith and not by sight [2Corinthians 5:7] by having us live from paycheck to paycheck—quite literally.  Nonetheless, I have found myself being more and more attracted to the programming that [CNBC] has to offer.

On the surface, there is a lot more going on there than just what could be assumed.  For like it or not, business and government are joined at the hip—if only for the reason that it hard to keep productivity at the optimum when enemy tanks are rolling down the street in front of the plant.  Subsequently, a lot of politics is discussed.

Of course, the main topic of conversation is economics, but aside from politics, this also involves product lines, marketing, financing, energy availability, workforce readiness and even the weather.  In other words, EVERYTHING effects business trends in one way or another.  Therefore, EVERYTHING is at least touched upon during a typical broadcast day.

Another thing that I have found rather attractive about the CNBC reporting is that it is generally very politically-neutral.  That is, except for [The Kudlow Report].

Furthermore, I have not noticed them making a whole lot of mistakes.  Of course, it helps when you don’t really understand half of what they are talking about.

However, there was one when time when one of the rotating panelists on [Fast Money] boldly announced (three times, no less!) the headline for an upcoming segment, “The great Brazilian beer company…”

In all fairness, I think that it had to be more of an inside joke than pure stupidity.  For I would think that such a high-profile analyst would know that [Budweiser] is actually a brand name of [Anheiser-Busch], who is now owned by [InBev], which is more of a Beligian company than a Brazilian one.

It still irritated the snot out of me.  For our Heavenly Father has yet to remove all of my nationalist pride, and adding all the more to that particular [thorn] is that Anheiser-Busch owns my beloved [St. LouisCardinals], which would make it a Belgian baseball team in a technical sense, I suppose.  Not that I have anything against Belgium, but…

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It Ain't Braggin'

[Dizzy Dean] was quite fond of saying, “It ain’t braggin’ if you can back it up.”  Since he is a [St. Louis Cardinals] legend as the leader of the [Gashouse Gang], I have to give him some slack.

As a side note, I was surprised to find that the Wikipedia article on the Gashouse Gang is incorrect about the nickname.  For it is actually referring to the perception (especially at the time) that most of the members of that 1934 team would have surely been on [death row] by then if they hadn’t become baseball players on account of being such an ornery bunch.  Of course, I could be sorely mistaken, but I don’t think so.

Anyway, getting back to the braggin’ part, what Dizzy Dean would like to say is somewhat different than what the Apostle Paul was given to say.  For it is written: I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. [Philippians 4:13]

Alas, as with so many other things, the significance of that verse has waned considerably in far too many hearts.  For they are so focused on the fact that there is nothing good about any of us that they absolutely refuse to recognize the work of our Heavenly Father’s Holy Spirit in and through someone [Philippians 2:13].

No, I cannot naturally blame them for being that way.  For it has been widely taught for far too long that the ability to overcome any obstacle is available through Christ, but we have to actually do the overcoming.  Subsequently, that leads to a lot of so-called boasting in the Lord that is really just boasting about what we want to believe we have accomplished in His name as He cheers us on.

Yes, our Heavenly Father could certainly put an end to all doubts.  For He could actually stand on the sidelines and watch as those who want to believe that they have been empowered to wield the sword of truth and justice against all unrighteousness make complete fools out of themselves in the eyes of this world, and in many cases, He has.

You see, as it appears to be in a man-made army, a solider is given a weapon and trained in how to fight with it, but this is not the way it is with our Heavenly Father.  For He is really the One who is doing the fighting through us, and this is true of everything that we do in this world—from raising our children to making a living.

Nonetheless, it is so very important to know and understand that it all depends upon what He wants to accomplish in and through someone.  For He will raise some up in the eyes of this world while He will crush others, but in all cases, it will be as it should be in the end [Matthew 19:28-30].

Again, none of this means that we have nothing to do with anything.  For we all have a part to play, but instead of wanting to believe that we have done good, we would be much better off wanting to truly be thankful for the good that He has done in and through us, while humbly accepting that even this is another gift of His grace.

To bring it all home, it would have been wonderful if Dizzy Dean had of been fond of saying, “What I have done ain’t mine to brag about.  For it is the Lord God Almighty, who takes the mound, when it is my turn to pitch.”

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Seeing Red

Alas, just when I was about to become a true fan of baseball again, it is looking highly unlikely that arguably the best player in the game today will be with my team longer than this next season.  For the [St. Louis Cardinals] let [the deadline pass] without making [Albert Pujols] on offer that he couldn’t refuse.