Baseball and Hope

It's April and that can mean two things. It's spring and baseball season is here. After three "opening days" (one in Japan and one in Washington D.C. and then one for everyone else), baseball season has officially begun. The excitement of a brand new season is in the air. Every team and every fan encouraged and excited that this could be their year.

Growing up in a non-MLB team area, the anticipation and excitement surrounding a new season was a foreign concept to me. The closest teams were the Cincinatti Reds, the Atlanta Braves, or the St. Louis Cardinals, and those were hundreds of miles away. It wasn't until I moved to Seattle that I got to really experience it first hand. There is a buzz in and around the city. You watch commercials on TV promoting the team. You hear sports talk radio hosts giving their two cents on how they think things will be great for the team. When you get to the stadium, people are chattering about how good they feel about this team and the situation they're in.

Granted when I was in Seattle, the Mariners were not a winning ball club. My first two years there were hard to watch and my last year there was improved but they didn't make the playoffs then either. But every spring, there was hope. Hope that last season was history and this season would be the year.

Now, I'm in Kansas City, another MLB city. The team, the Royals, hasn't been a good team since I was in middle school. But as I listen to the radio and go around the city, I get that same buzz that I did in Seattle. That one of hope. That though things have been bad in recent memory, this year will be different. This year will be a good year.

It's a good reminder of me of what I ultimately hope in, Jesus. That no matter how bad things get here, that I have something better for me down the road. And better yet, it's guaranteed.

Hope, it's a good four letter word.