Tim Ellsworth

In a press conference announcing his retirement from baseball, Craig Biggio got emotional when talking about his wife and family.

“God bless you,” Biggio said to his wife Patty, with tears in his eyes. Flanked by his two sons, Biggio continued speaking directly to his wife.

“Twenty years is a long time and we’re away, and we’re gone,” he said. “I look in their eyes, and I see you. And I just want to be a part of your family now. I want to be there.”

I can’t imagine what it’s like to miss out on so much of your kids’ childhood. Watching the Biggio press conference reminded me of a column I wrote last year about this very topic, and I think it’s fitting to post it again:

Baseball dads and priceless hugs
By Tim Ellsworth

JACKSON, Tenn. (BP)–We pulled up to the Nashville airport terminal, and I opened the back door to give my 2-year-old son Daniel a good-bye hug.

I was outbound for Florida, where I would spend the next four days on my annual spring training jaunt pursuing stories for Baptist Press. My wife and son were headed for her parents’ house just north of Nashville for the week.

We had been talking with Daniel for a few days about what would soon transpire. Daniel and Mommy were going to drop Daddy off at the airport, where he would ride in an airplane to Florida. Daniel only seemed to care about his Papaw taking him bowling.

But when I opened the back door, told Daniel good-bye and stooped to give him a hug in his car seat, his bottom lip puckered up and began to quiver. He didn’t want me to leave. He fought back the tears, and I did too.

I willingly got him out of the car, hugged him tightly and talked to him for a couple of minutes before walking away. His mom said he whimpered a little the rest of the way to her parents’ house. “Where Daddy go?” he asked more than once. But once he got to Mamaw’s and Papaw’s, he was fine.

Throughout my time in Florida I talked to several players who are dads about how they balance fatherhood with their career. Each one talked about the difficulty involved.

Chris Reitsma of the Atlanta Braves seemed especially troubled. He has two young children with another on the way. During the season his family lives in Atlanta, so he’s able to see them regularly on home stands. But it’s another story when he’s on the road.

“Do you have to go play baseball again, Daddy?” his daughter often asks.

Sometimes, she’ll offer to play baseball in his stead so he can stay home. In times like these, I’m sure Reitsma has to fight back tears of his own.

For the longest time I thought being a professional baseball player would be the ultimate career. These guys get to play a game they love, and they get paid handsomely to do so. Most of them — if they spend any time in the big leagues at all — will be financially set for life by the time they retire in their mid-30s. I can only dream what that’s like.

But as I talked to them about fatherhood, I decided that no amount of money could get me to trade places with them. Many of them go days or even weeks without seeing their kids, and they do it regularly.

I think of how hard it was for me at the airport to say goodbye to Daniel for four days. That’s not something I want to repeat very often. For guys like Reitsma, however, it’s a way of life.

I don’t fault these men for the career path they’ve chosen, and I don’t want to sound critical of them as fathers. God has blessed them with abilities I don’t have, and they are using their gifts for His glory. I don’t doubt that most of them are excellent dads.

Talking to Reitsma about his children gave me a glimpse into his heart and left no doubt in my mind that he’s an outstanding father. He certainly loves his children deeply.

I just wouldn’t want to do what he does.

As we talked, I was moved to keep Reitsma in my prayers this season, especially as he’s on road trips. His heart aches to be apart from his family. The least I can do is pray that those days apart will seem short for him.

I write this as I’m flying home, and in about an hour I’ll see Daniel again. He’ll yell “Daddy!” and give me a big hug, much as he does many times every day.

Those hugs are priceless. To me, they are infinitely more valuable than a career that would rob me of so many of them.

In the wake of Mike Coolbaugh’s death, Colorado Rockies first base coach Glenallen Hill has decided to wear a helmet while he is on the field.

A wise move. Let’s hope other coaches follow his example.

New team, same old Michael Barrett.

If you’re not using RSS feeds to monitor your favorite blogs and news sites, you’re probably spending more time than you should checking for new content.  For a couple of primers on using RSS feeds, check out what Desiring God’s blog has to say about the matter, or what Tim Challies has to say.

In short, using RSS feeds allows you to use one website to keep abreast of everything that’s posted on the sites you want to read.  No more checking to see if a site has been updated from the last time you visited. By using RSS feeds, you’ll know when there’s new content — and much of the time, you’ll be able to read all of the new content without even visiting the site that has posted it.

When I first started blogging, I was one of those who bookmarked all of the blogs and sites I wanted to check regularly, but I soon discovered how RSS feeds revolutionized my news consumption habits. I use Google Reader as my feed reader, but there are other good ones out there, such as Bloglines or NewsGator. I have subscriptions for all the blogs I monitor, plus news and sports sites like FOX News, ESPN, Sports Illustrated, USA Today, Christianity Today, Baptist Press, etc.

Even if you’re not particularly tech-savvy, I’d highly recommend that you look into using RSS feeds. It’ll save you tons of time.

What a sad story. From AP:

Tulsa Drillers coach Mike Coolbaugh died Sunday night after being struck in the head by a line drive as he stood in the first-base coach’s box during a Texas League game with the Arkansas Travelers, police said.

Coolbaugh once played for the St. Louis Cardinals. He leaves behind a wife and two young sons, and his wife is expecting another child.

Hat tip: Jim

Bowden inducted into Hall of Fame

If you build it …

Former big-leaguer Butler shows class

AIA tennis tour to Nepal makes major impression

Brad Locke: The grinding wheels of justice

Ten years ago today, I heard from a beautiful young woman two words that changed my life: “I do.”

At the time, I knew God had blessed me with a wife far more precious than I deserved. Over the past decade, I’ve become even more convinced of her value.

She has been a treasure beyond compare in my life. She has given me two incredible kids. She makes our home the happiest place I know. She ignores most of my annoying habits. She spends our money wisely. She treats me with respect. She gets more radiant with each passing day.

In a day when marriage is cheap and people bail on their spouses for every flippant reason imaginable, I’m more committed to her than ever. Though I often fail terribly at expressing and demonstrating it, I love her wholeheartedly. I’d marry her again in a second. I pray that God has many more decades of marriage in store for us.

Ten years ago today, God smiled upon me. He blessed me with my wife. And I’m eternally grateful.

Happy anniversary, Sarah. I love you.

So I’m perusing through Facebook, and I come across this little gem, posted on Timmy Brister’s profile (Timmy’s in the middle). It’s a photo in his album entitled “Influential People in My Life,” and he identifies Steve McCoy and Joe Thorn.

Steve McCoy??? Seriously? I mean, several people have told me that McCoy and I look alike, but I never thought it would go this far.

Korver shooting to be like Jesus

HPU football players minister in Scandinavia

Peavey resigns as SBU football coach

Kelly Boggs: Football without refs?

Brad Locke: What’s inside

I’m on vacation after today, so I may not post much for the next week or so. Have a good weekend.

This video was a blessing to me.

Hat tip: Armen

After considering the matter further, Tony La Russa has acknowledged that he should have had Albert Pujols bat in Aaron Rowand’s place in the ninth inning of Tuesday’s All-Star Game.

“I would have sent up Pujols (to hit for Aaron Rowand, who made the last out) just for the drama of the All-Star Game,” La Russa said.

“It’s one of the marquee events. It would have been great theater.

“People would have been talking about it forever,” La Russa said Wednesday night, after the conclusion of his Animal Rescue Foundation charity golf tournament in northern California.

Beliefnet has published an interview with Mike Piazza entitled “All-Star Christian: Baseball slugger Mike Piazza on praying for home runs, forgiving opponents, and passing judgment on Barry Bonds.”

Piazza, a Roman Catholic, opens with this statement:

I truly believe my whole professional career has been a blessing from God. And it’s been a great gift. I know I worked hard, and you have to apply yourself, but I still feel that you have to have a lot of blessings from above. And anybody who plays this game, you have to be very spiritual, because it’s very frustrating at times.

It’s an interesting interview, and not something I expected to read from Piazza.

Hat tip: Zoner

Good column by Christianity Today’s Stan Guthrie about his physical affliction of cerebral palsy and how it fits into his life as a believer.

No, disability is not good in itself. Jesus never celebrated affliction (though he did tell us to rejoice when we suffer persecution for being his disciples). Defeating the ugly shadows of life with the light of his coming kingdom, Jesus healed the lame, gave sight to the blind, and preached Good News to the poor. As Christians seek to be like him, we must not abhor those who suffer nor fear the trials that inevitably come our way. They are, to borrow an old phrase, means of grace.

Only through suffering, disappointment, and death—and the rude remarks of children—are we weaned from the love of this world. There’s more to life than happiness.