Bad Blood on the Diamond
Theme of the Week: Go and Be Reconciled
Bruce Bickel & Stan Jantz
Sunday, September 1, 2002
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Bad Blood on the Diamond
Theme of the Week: Go and Be Reconciled
Sunday, September 1
Key Bible Verse: Don't retaliate when people say unkind things about you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing (1 Peter 3:9, NLT). Bonus Reading: Genesis 27:41-45
In 1996, the Baltimore Orioles were playing the Indians at Jacobs Field in Cleveland. Roberto Alomar, the Oriole second baseman, was at bat. John Hirschbeck was umpiring behind home plate. On a called third strike, Alomar lost his cool. He exploded in a tirade against Hirschbeck. The episode climaxed with Alomar spitting in Hirshbeck's face.
Alomar held a press conference, accusing Hirschbeck of failing to concentrate on the game. He said Hirschbeck was still distraught and grieving over the death of his son, John, who'd died in 1993 from a rare brain disease known as adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD). The public perceived Alomar's comments as a "cheap shot." Even after serving his five-game suspension, he was booed wherever he played.
The following season, Alomar and Hirschbeck avoided each other. When Hirschbeck was a second-base umpire in a game with Alomar, Hirschbeck stood on the shortstop side of second base to avoid standing near Alomar. The friction and latent hostility continued far into the 1998 season. [continued 9/2]
—Bruce Bickel & Stan Jantz in Stories We Heard About Love
Adapted from: Stories We Heard About Love (J. Countryman, 2001) by permission.
Copyright © 2002 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.
Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity.
September/October 2002,Vol. 5,No. 5
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Merciful Father, You sent Your son to reconcile us while we were in rebellion. Make me willing to patch things up with those who've offended me.
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