Today in History… The Bunt of Sacrifice
- IV, V and Me
- Apr 17, 2017
- 3 min read
Anyone who went to school in NEISD may remember this phrase from one substitute teacher, “today in history”… in middle school I rolled my eyes, but today it inspired my blog post, so good job Mr. B(My husband said his name started with a B).
Today in History Jackie Robinson hit his first major league hit by bunting. We all know Jackie Robinson and his remarkable strides by breaking the color barrier in major league baseball on April 15, 1947… but his first major league hit wasn’t until April 17 and it surprisingly was a bunt! Apparently Jackie was known for bunting… I did not know this but was very excited when I found out this information. “Always a team player, Robinson regularly laid down bunts and sacrifice hits to allow his teammates to advance on base or score. His first-ever hit in the Major Leagues was a bunt, and he went on to lead the league with 28 sacrifice hits during his debut season. Of the 46 bunts Robinson laid down in 1947, all except four resulted in either a base hit or a sacrifice.” –history.com Isn’t this amazing?
This may not seem amazing to you on the surface but generally when you lay down a bunt you are sacrificing yourself for your teammates, so that the runners can advance and you basically are giving up your at bat for them. I love bunting, my whole high school softball career succeeded on this skill… I was a bunter because I bat left handed and well, could never hit past the infield, and since I was quick, bunting was the way to go. Unlike me, Jackie could bunt and hit home runs so his bunting was truly sacrificial and a way to be a team player! I love this fact about bunting, the strategy to sacrifice oneself to advance a runner into scoring position. What an awesome life lesson that sometimes putting others first is what will be most helpful to your overall success. “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” –Matthew 20:16
There is a debate going on in the baseball community that bunts are an unnecessary strategy to the game. Those against say you are just giving the other team an easy out and that you should just rely on hits. Those for the bunt strategy say that the game is unpredictable and this is a great tool when needed. I, of course, agree with the latter. Softball was such a great benefit to me in learning about life and I owe my passion for the game to my Uncle Frank who introduced me to the best team in the MLB, the St. Louis Cardinals! This sparked my love for the game and truly helped to shape my life. So, Uncle Frank, thank you, truly. My relationship with God has benefited so much from this sport and I am not sure how I would have turned out if not for God teaching me through this sport. This is why I think bunting is an important strategy to baseball/softball, because you cannot be successful at it unless you are willing to be a team player.
Sacrifice is learned through sports, you sacrifice your body, your time and sometimes your stats, to help make your team better. How cool is it that all of this can be a parallel to our lives in Christ and point us back to teamwork and building up the body, to unify us and work to love others above yourself. “Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body.” -1 Corinthians 12:12-13
Not only was Jackie Robinson a strong man who made powerful strides to bridge the gap during an intense time in this country but he also was a team player that wanted to win, and helped his team to make that happen. I love this sport, I love that it can bring people together, I love that so much of my life has been shaped by it and that God allowed me the ability to play and to coach others through this game.
I love how God uses our gifts, talents and interests to teach us about Him and allow us to experience life through these hobbies to understand more of Him.
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