WACKY WEDNESDAY WISDOM: Can't Keep a Good Man Down

     I'll admit before I ever get started I am biased in this area. I'm a lifelong Pittsburgh Pirates fan. I've accompanied my beloved team to the mountain peaks and the lowest of valleys. (Mostly through the valleys). For nearly fifty years now I have ebbed and flowed emotionally with the fortunes of my Pirates. So at the end of yet another losing season recently, I was left with a sinking feeling and the usual proclamation of "Wait 'til next year".
    At least we had a good manager in charge, I thought. Here's where my bias rears its head. I met Clint Hurdle (by phone at least) in October of 2013 after the Pirates won their first playoff game since 1992. Allow me to explain.
     For nearly ten years I have received Clint's daily devotion by email. He sends it promptly every morning of the week at 5:30 a.m. except for Sundays, which he reserves for the Lord to offer bits of wisdom in His own way.
     My middle son and I drove to Pittsburgh to see the aforementioned playoff game in 2013. We drove over eight hours to Pittsburgh, watched the game, and drove over eight hours back during the night. I drove, he slept. We got home just in time for him to make it to second period at school the next morning. It remains one of the most memorable nights of my life as far as sports goes.
     So I felt the need to share my version of that experience with the man who had resurrected my Pirates and made the playoff win possible- Clint Hurdle. The greatest baseball manager of all time (bias noted). On a whim, a few days later I replied to his devotion email one morning, an email received by thousands of people. Realizing he probably wouldn't read it due to the sheer volume of communications he surely receives, I expected no email response from him. Regardless, I let him know what the night had meant to me and my son and how pleased I was with the job he was doing with the Pirates.
     Later that afternoon, while I was up a ladder cleaning some gutters on the roof, my cellphone buzzed and the Caller ID indicated the ring was originating from Pennsylvania. Curious, I answered.
     "Rusty," the voice said, "This is Clint Hurdle." I threw up a little in my mouth. I had seen some of his interviews on television and online so I recognized the voice. It was indeed my hero on the other end. Fumbling for the right words to say, I uttered perhaps the most stupid response I could have mustered. "Hey, could you hold a minute while I get down from this ladder. I'm worried I might fall." Clint laughed. What he didn't realize is that I really was worried I might fall, mainly bein's how I was so rattled.
     Clint told me how much he appreciated my email and asked me about our baseball program at Gardner-Webb. Having noticed the Bible verse at the bottom of my email, he informed about some of the exciting things that were taking place spiritually within the Pirates organization, with a number of players being open and demonstrative concerning their relationship with the Lord. (He didn't tell me but I knew from reading Pirates' blogs that Clint was leading the way spiritually on the team and in the community).
     I was amazed. This guy took the time to speak with a stranger and learn about me, my family, and my baseball program. And as time went on, every time I responded to one of his emails, he always sent a reply, even when I told him not to. This past spring he sent a thirty second video from Pirates' spring training wishing my team well during the 2019 season. My players were astonished he took the time to do that for us.
     When I announced my retirement from coaching in mid April, I received a warm note of congratulations from Clint, wishing me well in the next phase of life. My Pirates were in good hands with Clint Hurdle at the helm.
     But a late season slump planted the impression in an owner's mind that a change of leadership might be necessary for my poor Pirates. I say poor because they are among the lowest payrolled teams in the league and can't (or won't) financially keep good players in town. Certainly not the manager's fault. But the tight fisted owner decided that Clint Hurdle would no longer be the manager. I was crushed.
     Proverbs 24:16 reminds us "for though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again . . . " Clint Hurdle, like most Major League managers, has been fired a time or two along the way. And he's bounced back every time. Stronger than ever.
     I woke early the morning after the firing of my all-time favorite manager and saw on my phone that there was a new email in my inbox. And it had been sent at 5:30 a.m., just the same as any other devotion email each morning. Clint's firing had not been cause enough for him to pause for even a moment in his mission to advance God's Kingdom in any way he could.
     I chose my words carefully but decided I had to let Clint know in a reply to his devotion email how much I respected and appreciated him. And I mentioned that among the thousands of people who had no doubt reached out to him in the past few hours, I wanted to join the masses who love and respect him as a manager but more importantly as a person.
     That evening there was another message in my inbox. "Thanks for reaching out, Rusty. I'm too blessed to be stressed. God's got me right where He wants me. Honored to serve. Humbled to help. Love, Clint." You can't keep a good man down.