Saint Matthew's

This morning, I was listening to Stephen A. Smith on FOX Sports Radio (XM Channel 142) discuss Texas Rangers’ manager Ron Washington’s “admission after the fact” that he took cocaine last year. He was caught last season in a random drug test. After talking with Rangers’ management, Washington offered his resignation. Management didn’t accept it, believing that the issue was over and that Washington was sorry for his mistake.

Smith opined that even though Washington admitted he erred and apologized, Washington still should have been fired. The fiery opinion maker (1050 ESPN Radio hasn’t been the same since Smith left) said that Washington’s actions in taking the drugs in the first place should have been cause for his release.

At one time, I would whole-heartedly agree with Stephen A. Washington is the manager of a major league baseball team and needs to be held to a higher standard.

But Rangers’ management spoke with Washington, he admitted he was wrong, and the team forgave him. It is such a rare occurrence in sports where a poor act of judgment was caught, admitted to bythe wrongdoer, and forgiveness was granted. I think that the Rangers should be given credit for showing the world the mercy that comes from forgiveness.

In Matthew 18, Jesus is asked by Peter how many times must one forgive his brother when they sin against them, suggesting that 7 times would be a sufficient total. Oh, no! cries Jesus. He says not just seven times, but 70 times 7!

And if that endless total doesn’t throw you, it is imperative that we forgive as our Lord forgives us! That means, with forgiving comes forgetting. And how many of us do that?

The Texas Rangers must get a lot of credit for forgiving Washington his grievous mistake. Oh course, they may have not forgotten Washington’s fleshly stumble and may be really angry with him behind closed doors. Yet, they publicly backed their manager, saying that this issue is water under the bridge. Nolan Ryan and the entire organization give all of us a wonderful example of forgiveness in action.

(Reposted from reviovine.com)

I’ve been kind, so far this season, to the  New York Yankees and their rather hideous play and mounting injuries (both physical and mental). But I’ve been writing more about hockey – and yesterday, I vented my spleen on Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby … over at my blog.

I am torn.

Now that the Red Sox have been vanquished by the Tampa Rays (don’t ask me just how tempted I was on Sunday to pray for them in church), the World Series has lost something.

No, not that a Tampa-Philadelphia series doesn’t have a lot of baseball “gravitas,” (to resurrect a word from the presidential campaigns of the past).

It is more that I am too happy the Red Sox lost.

I am more in the camp, “Who cares who wins? The Red Sox lost. This pastor is happy.”

OK. The Giants were quite ugly last night. They were so bad, I couldn’t watch more than a few minutes. They just looked like they were jetlagged or something. I don’t know. When the entire football world is watching and then you lay a huge egg like the G-Men did last night, the Giants better come back on Sunday with an equally decimating victory or no one will be worried when they have to play the team from the Meadowlands.

Oh, one of the teams from the Meadowlands (I forgot that the Titans, no, the Jets play there, too).

But the Rangers won and are now 5-0. They beat the Devils at the Garden 4-1. While I am thrilled that the Broadway Blues are 5 and zip, that little sports devil in my head keeps reminding me, “Anthony, it is not how good they play when the season starts; it’s how they play at the end of the season that counts.”

The Phillies beat the Dodgers out in LA last night and now are one game away from the World Series.

Who would have thunk it? The Phillies, who nearly everyone here in the tri-state area wrote off months ago, are 9 innings away from making it to the Series. Mets fans aren’t happy.

What got to me in this series? No, it wasn’t the baseball acumen of either team.

It was seeing Don Mattingly in a Dodger uniform.

I wanted to puke.

Oh, today is going to be a fun sports night.

Of course, in my mind, it is highlighted by the New Jersey Devils going to the Garden to take on the NY Rangers. It is early in the season, but whenever the team from Newark crosses the Hudson to play the Blueshirts, it is going to be fun. But also on this evening’s sports schedule, the Giants play on Monday Night Football against the Cleveland Browns. While the guy writing in the Sporting News Today wants people to pull for the Browns, please. The Giants could go 5-0 tonight.

And who can forget the baseball playoffs starting this afternoon with the Tampa Rays traveling to Boston to play those Red Sox people. Then tonight, the Phillies and the Dodgers tangle out in L.A. Yes, I do mean tangle, after last night’s little scuffle.

And since I haven’t written about it — I am pulling for Joe Torre’s Dodgers.

I need to spill my sports guts for a moment…

Tonight, the Minnesota Twins are in Chicago to face the hometown White Sox for the American League’s Central Division title. Personally, I want the pale Sawx to win.

As a New Yorker, this is a sad night since this year, Major League Baseball’s playoffs will not have a New York team in it. The last time this happened, I just finished college.

With baseball season over in New York, both the Yankees and the Mets get ready for the off-season. Both teams need pitching – the Mets need an entire bullpen while the Yankees need just about an entire starting rotation. The Yankees are in the market for a first baseman, maybe an outfielder, and possibly a catcher and second baseman. The Mets, meanwhile, are looking for anyone to play second base, a stronger bench, and maybe a first baseman. Reporters are halucinating over the possibility of high-cost free agents making New York their new home next year, while fans are just getting over the fact that both teams choked.

Last Thursday, I went to see the Mets play the Cubs at Shea. It was a rainy night at the old ballpark in Flushing. Thankfully, our seats were in the Loge section in left field — we were covered. The Mets came from behind to win the game in the bottom of the 9th on a hit by Carlos Beltran. Mets fans were over-thrilled, as was this Yankees fan who cheered for the hometown team.

The first time I went to Shea was to see a football game. Don’t ask me anything about it — I don’t remember going. Yes, it was a Jets game, one of their last ones played in Queens before moving to New Jersey. Family members told me about it. Beyond that, I attended a few Mets games over the years and a blessed concert event this past July — Billy Joel’s "Last Play at Shea," where Paul McCartney showed up to sing farewell to the orange and blue ballpark. Yes, the facility is not the greatest. The new stadium is going to run rings around Shea.

As the new Yankee Stadium will definitely run rings around the current stadium. For all the crying over the old stadium and the "memories" that the ballpark gave, people will easily forget it when they step into the sparkling new place across 161st Street.

Well, the ballgame between the Twins and White Sox is going on. I guess I will make a cup of coffee and sit down and enjoy it.

I’ll enjoy the baseball game, that is.