That Big Dodger In The Sky

 

THAT BIG DODGER IN THE SKY

            When I was a child, General Manager Tom Lasorda often referred to that big Dodger in the sky.  I really believed that God did favor the Dodgers, and after watching “42” this week, perhaps there is something to that. 

            Wesley Branch Rickey (1881-1965) was in baseball all his life.  When a 22 year old player-coach at a Christian college in Ohio (1904), he saw how horribly his one black player was treated when the team was on the road.  Like Abraham Lincoln a century earlier when he saw at age 21 black people being sold along the Mississippi, Rickey prayed that God would give him a chance to change all of that.  He got that opportunity in 1945-1947 as he courageously signed equally courageous Jackie Robinson to the Dodger organization that he headed.

            Rickey lived by the principles of the book that he knew so well—the Bible.  He could quote the Scriptures, and sought the will of God in his decisions.  His genius was in the application of the Scriptures to moral and personal decisions.  The film says he chose Jackie Robinson as the first player to be elevated from the Negro Leagues because he was of the same faith—Methodist—that Rickey was.  When Robinson entered on his first day into the Ebbets Field stadium, he paused to pray.  The challenge that lay before the young ball player required faith and the guidance of one who actually had lived his faith—Branch Rickey.  Oh, how I wish every young adult at this church had a Branch Rickey come along side of  him at every crisis and temptation with the right advice—advice forged by a lifetime of walking with the Lord.

            In February, a California book repairer reportedly knew something was unusual when she opened up an old Bible in need of repair among donated items to a Sacramento library.  The opening page was signed by 30 major league players (including Joe Garagiola)  and their manager in 1953. The Bible had sat for months in that shop, and no one wanted it.  Yet now, it is of great value—even unrepaired. Whose Bible was it?  You already know. In gratitude for his example of living out the Word, those professional players presented Branch Rickey the only memento that would express their gratitude—the Word of God.

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