Tim Ellsworth

Huge story in today’s USA Today by Bob Nightengale about the Colorado Rockies and their revival on the baseball field that is corresponding to a spiritual revival within the team.

No copies of Playboy or Penthouse are in the clubhouse of baseball’s Colorado Rockies. There’s not even a Maxim. The only reading materials are daily newspapers, sports and car magazines and the Bible.

Music filled with obscenities, wildly popular with youth today and in many other clubhouses, is not played. A player will curse occasionally but usually in hushed tones. Quotes from Scripture are posted in the weight room. Chapel service is packed on Sundays. Prayer and fellowship groups each Tuesday are well-attended. It’s not unusual for the front office executives to pray together.

On the field, the Rockies are trying to make the playoffs for the first time in 11 seasons and only the second time in their 14-year history. Behind the scenes, they quietly have become an organization guided by Christianity — open to other religious beliefs but embracing a Christian-based code of conduct they believe will bring them focus and success.

The story talks about how team execs have become more intentional in signing men of character to play for the team. It’s a top-down approach that starts with CEO Charlie Monfort, who became a Christian three years ago.

“We started to go after character six or seven years ago, but we didn’t follow that like we should have,” Monfort said. “I don’t want to offend anyone, but I think character-wise we’re stronger than anyone in baseball. Christians, and what they’ve endured, are some of the strongest people in baseball. I believe God sends signs, and we’re seeing those.”

The story includes comments from Todd Helton, who is a regular at team chapel services, and manager Clint Hurdle, who also became a Christian three years ago.

Posting will most likely be lighter than normal for the next few days, as we’re heading to Charleston, S.C. — first for vacation, then for a work-related conference. If anyone knows Charleston well and has any recommendations for restaurants, attractions, etc., I’d love to hear them.

We watched “The Great Raid” last night, and it’s one of the best movies I’ve seen in a long time. It’s based on the true story of the rescue of 500 Americans from a Japanese POW camp in the Philippines during World War II.

Very appropriate for Memorial Day weekend. If you’ve never seen it, do yourself a favor and pick it up.

From The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract:

Early Wynn was famous for throwing inside. Somebody once said that he would knock down his own mother if she crowded the plate on him. “Why shouldn’t it?” said Wynn. “My mother was a damned good hitter.”

Some updated results:

Right field:
1. Ruth, 64 pts.
2. Aaron, 60 pts.
3. Clemente, 27 pts.

Catcher:
1. Bench, 43 pts.
2. Berra, 42 pts.
3. Campanella, 22 pts.

Right-handed starter:
1. Johnson, 47 pts.
2. Young, 34 pts.
3. Mathewson, 27 pts.
4. Clemens, 26 pts.
5. Gibson, 18 pts.

Now, for the left-handed starters. This ought to be a lot easier than the right-handed starters. Rank your top five. Use www.baseball-reference.com for stats:

Steve Carlton
Whitey Ford
Tom Glavine
Lefty Grove
Carl Hubbell
Randy Johnson
Sandy Koufax
Hal Newhouser
Warren Spahn

Chicago Cubs catcher Michael Barrett got a 10-game suspension for slugging A.J. Pierzynski.

I was driving to work this morning, and on “Mike & Mike in the Morning” on ESPN they were broadcasting a wedding ceremony, so I flipped over to another station. It was some morning show, and I don’t know what the topic of discussion was, but the hosts had on the phone a woman who had been married three times.

The first husband was the one with whom to play, she said. The second husband was the one with whom to have children. The third husband is the one with whom to grow old.

“It’s worked out well for me,” she said.

Yeah, isn’t that about right? Worked out well for me. We don’t give a rip about the welfare of our children in this society, and so we hop into and out of marriages because that’s what works for us.

We don’t care anything about commitment or being people who keep our promises, and so we hop into and out of marriages because that’s what works for us.

We don’t have any regard for God’s commands and expectations, and so we hop into and out of marriages because that’s what works for us.

We are spoiled, self-absorbed, pathetic people indeed.

And a three-day weekend awaits.

From CNN.com:

From the right side, Daniel Wachira looks like any other bubbly 4-year-old, but Daniel was abandoned at birth and left on a trash heap in Nairobi, Kenya, where he was mauled by dogs and nearly killed.

The left side of his face is missing and he is in the United States for surgery to replace the missing jawbone, cheek and ear.

What a heart-wrenching story.

From AP:

Barbaro’s jockey said he spent days in tears after the Kentucky Derby winner’s career-ending breakdown in the Preakness Stakes. “Of all the tears I have cried, if tears could heal a wound, Barbaro would be healed by now,” Edgar Prado said Wednesday on the New York Racing Association’s Web site. “I’ve been thinking about him and I’ve been crying on and off.”

After surgery to repair his shattered leg, Barbaro continues to improve. His doctor described him as “stable and happy.”

Pat Robertson can leg press 2,000 pounds. He says so himself.What’s amazing is that by doing so, Robertson, at 76 years of age, shattered the all-time Florida State University leg press record, set by Dan Kendra.

Want to achieve similar results? Drink the protein shake that Robertson does.

Hat tip: Hidden Treasure, via Steve Weaver

Here’s the list for right-handed starting pitchers. Rank your top five. Use www.baseball-reference.com for stats:

Grover Cleveland Alexander
Three Finger Brown
Roger Clemens
Bob Feller
Bob Gibson
Ferguson Jenkins
Walter Johnson
Greg Maddux
Juan Marichal
Christy Mathewson
Kid Nichols
Jim Palmer
Gaylord Perry
Robin Roberts
Nolan Ryan
Tom Seaver
Ed Walsh
Cy Young

A fat, aging Babe Ruth jacked three home runs in a game against Pittsburgh, bringing his career home run total to 714.

The lowly Florida Marlins, now 14-31 on the season, just completed a three-game sweep of the Chicago Cubs. To put that in perspective, 21.4 percent of the Marlins’ wins for the entire season came in the last three days, at the Cubs’ expense.

I don’t know how Cubs fans do it. I really don’t.

A new study from the Kaiser Family Foundation indicates that children under the age of 6 watch an average of two hours of television daily.

One-third of America’s youngest children — babies through age 6 — live in homes where the television is on almost all the time, says a study that highlights the immense disconnect between what pediatricians’ advise and what parents allow.

According to the article, one pediatrics group recommends that children under age 2 should watch no TV or other electronic media. Older chidren should have no more than two hours of “screen time” daily.

According to a New York Times article on the same subject, the study “found that despite increasing debate over the potentially harmful effects of television on young children, many parents believe that the benefits of a little tube time — whether for their children’s development or their own sanity — outweigh the risk of raising a generation of crib potatoes.”

The study concluded that many parents use TV not because their kids want it so much, but because parents want a break from their kids.

What are your thoughts on the study, and on the topic of children and television? How much TV do you allow your kids to watch? Is TV for children a good or bad thing?

This is a topic that ought to generate a decent amount of discussion.