Casey At The Bat

But I will call on God, and the LORD will rescue me. Morning, noon, and night I plead aloud in my distress, and the LORD hears my voice. He rescues me and keeps me safe from the battle waged against me, even though many still oppose me. God, who is king forever, will hear me and will humble them. Interlude For my enemies refuse to change their ways; they do not fear God. (Psalm 55:16-18 NLV).

A little over two hundred years ago on this month, Ernest Thayer previewed the classic poem “Casey at the Bat” for the first time. The story is well remembered. It is Saturday September 3, 1887. The Mudville Nine are playing a baseball game. It is the bottom of the ninth inning and the home team is losing 4 runs to 2 runs. The Mudville Nine need the power of their rightfielder's bat to win the game. Brian Kavanagh Casey, age 28 is a Mudville native. At the time of the game, Mudville's star rightfielder has a batting average of .504 with 200 runs scored and 99 home runs hit. But Casey is the fifth batter due up in the inning so it isn't even certain that he'll get to the plate. Especially after the shortstop Scooter Cooney, and firstbaseman Otis Barrows, make two quick outs. Casey's chances to perform heroics are fading dramatically.
But the third batter up is leftfielder Peter "Roughouse" Flynn and he hits a single. The next batter, thirdbaseman and dance bandleader James Elmer "Bobo" Blake, blasts a double. So, yes, mighty Casey will be coming to the plate. Centerville's pitcher, James Riley "Fireball" Snedeker, throws two pitches. Casey just looks at them, never moving his bat. Buttenheiser, the umpire, calls both pitches strikes. The count is nothing and two. Snedeker throws a third pitch and mighty Casey swings as the small hurling round orb crosses the plate. Casey takes his round bat and tries to hit the ball squarely. But he can't. Casey misses the ball and strikes out. The game is over, Mudville loses. The poem ends with the following stanza:

Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright;
The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light,
And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout;
But there is no joy in Mudville-- mighty Casey has struck out.

In the middle of the battle of life, we may often feel like the crowd at Mudville! But, for those who follow Christ, we will always have hope of our final victory. Vernon Grounds tells of an incident that happened while he was in seminary. Since the school had no gymnasium, he and his friends played basketball in a nearby public school. Nearby, an elderly janitor waited patiently until the seminarians finished playing. Invariably he sat there reading his Bible. One day he asked him what he was reading. The man answered, ‘The book of Revelation.’ Surprised, Vernon asked if he understood it. ‘Oh, yes,’ the man assured him. `I understand it.’ ‘What does it mean?’ Quietly the janitor answered, `It means that Jesus is gonna win.’” Grounds concludes, “That’s the best commentary I have ever heard on that book. Jesus is going to win. That’s the Biblical mind-set.” And, that’s the real basis of our hope.

The next time you start to believe that there can be no joy in your “Mudville” remember the words of David, “But I will call on God, and the LORD will rescue me. Morning, noon, and night I plead aloud in my distress, and the LORD hears my voice. He rescues me and keeps me safe.”