Squeeze Play

The 2005 St. Louis Cardinals were masters of the squeeze play, often winning games in their last at-bat with their precise and timely execution of baseball’s most fundamental plays. Each time, a batter gave up his opportunity to reach base to make sure his teammate on third crossed home plate. The batter sacrificed his own at-bat to benefit one teammate, which in turn benefited the team as a whole.

In this day of “me first” players whose primary goals are to make their stats look as good as possible, very few players are willing to make sacrifices for the benefit of a teammate. In the end, the team often loses. Sometimes, even coaches have “me first” attitudes and are guilty of doing things like running up the score to make themselves look good. They sometimes leave star players in the game too long and risk injury rather than building depth that will perhaps help them later in the season.

In the game of life, there is one example of unselfishness that outshines the rest—the ultimate squeeze play. Jesus Christ gave Himself up to make sure we reach home—the eternal home that awaits us if we accept the sacrifice He made on the cross. Just as the runner on third base has to make a decision to run home when the sacrifice bunt is delivered, we must make a decision to accept Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice if we are to make it to our eternal home.