No story, especially those found in sports, develops in a vacuum. Though it still is the national pastime for many of us, perhaps because baseball is a slow game that allows for conversation, there are opportunities for legends to build more quickly than in other more "fast-paced" contests.
Such is the case for 25-year-old Brandon Pfaadt of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Picked by the Diamondbacks in the fifth round of the 2020 Major League Baseball draft and labeled as only the 59th best prospect in baseball at the beginning of the year, Pfaadt eventually made his first appearance in "The Show" on May 3 of this year. What followed is a rather inauspicious rookie season pieced together with side trip demotions to the Diamondbacks' Triple A affiliate.
Yet through sheer determination and dogged resilience, each time young Brandon came back a better pitcher than before.
Nevertheless, moving forward to the seventh and deciding game of the National League Championship Series, the rookie pitcher was matched against a veteran Philadelphia Phillies team with the game being played before a hostile crowd as only the "City of Brotherly Love" can deliver — a bold move by the Diamondbacks' manager in one of the most important "win-or-go-home" games of the season to date to be sure. But one, nevertheless, that was made of necessity because he had very few choices on his roster.
A good case of "nerves"? You better believe it! A fast-paced heartrate? Probably off the charts! After all, who could blame him for the fluttering wings of butterflies that likely occupied the gastrointestinal regions of his youthful body.
But just when the world would expect all sorts of pregame gyrations and superstitions to be the call of the day to focus his mind and body on the great task that lay before him, a camera panned down the Arizona bench to reveal that young Mr. Pfaadt was reading. Not only that, but he was reading his Bible.
Without him revealing his selection, it is impossible to tell what book of God's Word he was perusing or even the chapter or verse. Yet here he was in the moment just before the biggest moment of his fledgling major league career delving into the holy Scriptures.
Whatever passage he may have been focused on, Brandon was able to face his giants with a calmness totally unexpected of a pitcher so early in his career. In fact, he kept his team within reach of the Phillies – and with a little help from his bullpen partners and teammates, the Diamondbacks prevailed and are now in the World Series. [Editor's note: Pfaadt is slated to start Game 3 tonight in Arizona against the Texas Rangers.]
In other words, Brandon found the strength he needed in God's Word to perform what many thought to be an almost hopeless task.
Zac Gallen, one of Brandon's teammates, summed up his performance in this way:
"To go out there in game seven when your back's against the wall, maybe in one of the more hostile environments in baseball, maybe in all of professional sports, I just think speaks to the character of the guy."
No doubt it does speak to Brandon's high degree of character. No offense to all the "Swifties" out there, but what a refreshing story to find a celebrity dependent upon God and His Word to focus himself on the quest laid out before him. It certainly is in stark contrast to the "please stop my heart from fluttering" uproar arising out of the revelation of what Taylor was wearing at the game to watch Travis play or who she sat with or even if the two of them were later seen holding hands or even kissing.
At Southern Evangelical Seminary we commend Brandon for not being ashamed of God's Word in a world that is more concerned about non-essential silliness. May his tribe increase! His simple and silent action speaks loudly and voluminously to the problems facing our nation and its inhabitants.
Maybe it's time for all of America to turn our hearts back to God's holy, inerrant and infallible Word. Our time is short. That is why we will continue to "hold our hands to the plow" and proclaim the Gospel for so long as God allows. For the Gospel is in the final analysis the only truth that matters.
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