Baseball and Faith:

Phil Mickelson, Bryson Dechambeau and a group of players who defected to Saudi-funded LIV Golf filed an antitrust lawsuit Wednesday against the PGA Tour, the first step in a legal fight that could define the rules of where players can compete.

The Wall Street Journal first reported the filing in U.S. District Court in San Francisco. The complaint also includes an application for a temporary restraining order by Talor Gooch, Hudson Swafford and Matt Jones to compete in the Fedex Cup playoffs.

Six players who have competed in LIV Golf events are among the top 125 in the Fedex Cup standings and would be eligible for the start of the PGA Tour's postseason that starts next week.

The PGA Tour has suspended members for playing in LIV Golf events without a release to play in tournaments the same week of a PGA Tour event. The tour does not allow releases for tournaments held in North America. The last two LIV Golf events — with $25 million in prize money for 54 holes with no cut — were in Oregon and New Jersey.

The Journal reported that details of the lawsuit indicate the PGA Tour suspended Mickelson in March for allegedly recruiting players to LIV Golf. When he applied for reinstatement in June, the tour denied it because he had played in the first Saudi event held outside London.

I recently watched the Major League Baseball All-star game on television. The game was played at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California. One aspect of the game intrigued me more than anything else: players on the field were mic’d up and talking with the broadcasters and commentators during the game.

The most important matters of what takes place in a baseball game do not visibly occur on the field. Instead, they can be found in the minds of those participating in the game. Yogi Berra, through his humor and wit, worded it this way “Baseball is 90% mental, the other half is physical.”

People who really know the game of baseball see more than players, lines, bases, a bat and a ball. These individuals are able to see approaches, sequences, game plans, strategies, and mentalities. In other words, experienced baseball fans are able to see the 90% mental.

My favorite part of the game was the 2nd inning when the Toronto Blue Jays pitcher, Alek Manoah, was pitching and mic’d up with the commentator John Smoltz. Smoltz was asking him what pitches he would be throwing. Manoah was asking for scouting reports on players’ tendencies. Manoah was also predicting what his catcher’s next pitch call would be.

I found the mic’d up exchanges to enhance the game. At one point, Minoah had two strikes on a batter. Smoltz asked him, “what are you going to throw?” Minoah replied, “I’m going high and in on this guy. Let’s see if Kirk (the catcher) thinks so.” Seconds later, Minoah received the signal from his catcher who also wanted to go high and in. Minoah then threw the pitch and struck the batter out. Interestingly, Minoah struck out three straight batters to end the inning.

The Major League Baseball All-stars are physically gifted with power, athleticism, balance, and sheer genetics. True as these may be, they are also gifted thinkers which radically separates them from other players. They don’t just play baseball - they think baseball.

I’m quite convinced that a spiritual lesson is to be learned from this mic’d up feature in the 2022 Major League Baseball All-star game. Like baseball, Christianity demands a worldview, a way of seeing and thinking which goes far beyond the visible. Many people jump to behavior when they consider Christianity - to what can be visibly seen (like morals and ethics). Christianity is so much deeper than “do this and don’t do that.”

Those who really plunge into the depths of Christianity allow it to enter into their mind, into their worldview. They, like Paul in Acts 9, have experienced scales fall from their eyes and they regain a Christian worldview. Real conversion to Christianity is a conversion of one’s worldview which includes one’s mentality, dreams, hopes, fears, imagination, and so much more.

The mind of Christ, in other words, needs to be mic’d up. It needs to be heard, taught, and preached. The mind of Christ needs to be discussed. I am all for the body of Christ, that which is visibly seen, but we must place emphasis on the head of this body - the mind of Christ.

Maybe Yogi Berra’s wit and humor speaks to much more than the game of baseball.

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Fr. Ben Daghir is a priest for the Diocese of Erie from St. Marys, PA. He played pitcher for the Elk Catholic Crusaders in 2010-2011 and coached SM Little League for 4 years. Ben was a pitcher for the 2009 St. Marys Senior League State Championship team. His favorite team is the Pittsburgh Pirates and favorite baseball player is Tim Lincecum.