The Day A Baseball Game Saved Hundreds of Lives-A True Story

It was an exceptionally warm day for October, even by Bay Area standards.  The temperature sat in the mid 80’s and the late afternoon sun was shining brightly, as people were arriving into and finding their seats at Candlestick Park, where the first pitch of Game 3 of the 1989 World Series between the Oakland Athletics and San Francisco Giants was set to occur in a half hour. It was 5pm, West Coast Time, and ABC was just beginning their pregame broadcast.

Then suddenly at 5:04pm, as broadcaster Tim McCarver was narrating highlights of game two of the Series, the ground began to shake, the TV feed got choppy, and fellow broadcaster Al Michaels interjected to state “I tell you what, we are having an earth….” and then silence….followed by static and then an empty ABC logoed blue screen, finally followed by, as audio began to come back on the air, Al Michaels stating an earthquake had just in fact occurred and added for the sake of levity “that was the greatest opening in the history of television.”

Power went out all over both San Francisco and Oakland, including the power at Candlestick Park, and therefore the game would be cancelled shortly after, as players sought to find their own family members amongst the crowd. What had initially produced additional excitement in the crowd slowly turned to a quiet somber mood, as word began to spread through fans with portable battery operated radios that the earthquake had caused highway bridges had collapsed as well as a section of the Bay Bridge. What had just occurred would come to be known as the Loma Prieta Earthquake, and it measured at 6.9 on the RIchter scale.

Just prior to that season Candlestick Park had ungone major structural improvements that likely prevented the quake from causing the upper grandstands to fall. No one knows for sure, but thousands of fans could have been injured or killed had these repairs not taken place. However, these improvements allowed the ballpark to actually be one of the safest places for the crowd of 62,000 people to be at that moment.

Across the Bay in Oakland, a section of the top of the double tiered Cypress Street Viaduct collapsed onto the lower deck, crushing cars underneath, killing 42 people. However, highway experts estimate that had this been a normal Tuesday at 5pm, hundreds of cars would have been on that freeway section at that time, but due to the World Series game, many folks had left work early, or stayed at work for office watch parties.

Thus, October 17th, 1989 can be remembered as a day a baseball game likely saved hundreds of lives, due to the unique nature of both cities having vested interests in the game, and the time of day the game was scheduled.  It is also the only known time an earthquake of such magnitude has ever been captured on live TV.

The World Series would resume 10 days later, after extensive examination of both Candlestick Park and The Oakland Coliseum, for structural soundness. The Oakland Athletics would win the series 4-0.

Prior to the start of the rescheduled game three, ABC sportscaster, Al Michaels would give this monologue on the endearing nature of baseball, and how in difficult times it can bring about healing and help restore a sense of normalcy to the world:

“At this very moment ten days ago, we began our telecast with an aerial view of San Francisco; always a spectacular sight, and particularly so on that day because the cloudless sky of October 17 was ice blue, and the late-day sun sparkled like a thousand jewels.

That picture was very much a mirror of the feel and the mood that had enveloped the Bay Area...and most of Northern California. Their baseball teams, the Giants and A's, had won pennants, and the people of this region were still basking in the afterglow of each team's success. And this great American sporting classic, the World Series, was, for the time being, exclusively theirs.

Then of course the feeling of pure radiance was transformed into horror and grief and despair- in just fifteen seconds.[16] And now on October 27, like a fighter who's taken a vicious blow to the stomach and has groggily arisen, this region moves on and moves ahead.

And one part of that scenario is the resumption of the World Series. No one in this ballpark tonight- no player, no vendor, no fan, no writer, no announcer, in fact, no one in this area period- can forget the images. The column of smoke in the Marina. The severed bridge. The grotesque tangle of concrete in Oakland. The pictures are embedded in our minds.

And while the mourning and the suffering and the aftereffects will continue, in about thirty minutes the plate umpire, Vic Voltaggio will say 'Play Ball', and the players will play, the vendors will sell, the announcers will announce, the crowd will exhort. And for many of the six million people in this region, it will be like revisiting Fantasyland.

But Fantasyland is where baseball comes from anyway and maybe right about now that's the perfect place for a three-hour rest.”

Indeed baseball is a great distraction to us in times of sadness. I began to understand this after the terrorist attacks of 9/11 prompted a week of baseball game cancellations around the country. However, on 9/18/01, baseball came back, and some healing through the joy of the great American past time began.

So, as we begin the great ride of the 162 game marathon that will make up the 2017 baseball season, we look back on a day a scheduled game potentially saved many lives, and prepare to enjoy the endearing seasonal ride once more, surrounded by friends and family. Go Tribe!


Actual Pregame Coverage leading up to the earthquake


MLB Tonight's 25th Anniversary Six Minute Documentary

Sports and Their Significance: A Cleveland Observation

I have been thinking about how to explain to non sports fans and/or, non native Clevelanders, why this Cavs journey means so much to Cleveland, and why so many people are drawn to cheer on our sports teams. For this city, especially, we haven't had a championship won by any of our major league sports teams since 1964. Now you can say, "so what? How does winning or losing have anything to do with your daily life?" and in doing so you would be right. Whether or not the Cavs, Indians or Browns win or lose doesn't affect you directly in any way. 

However, I would say this back. Sports teams are seen by any city as an extension of the city. They are ambassadors to the rest of the country. When they win it equals success, and the people who live here then, by extension feel that in a small way, we are successful too. The same goes for when any of our teams lose. We feel that also represents us to the world.

Because Cleveland has suffered so much financial decline in the last 20 years, we don't have the strong economy or large amount of businesses to bring us national attention in a positive light. Yes, we did snag the Republican National Convention, but only half of the country really has interest in that because only half the country are republicans anyway! 

Which brings up another point, sports create unity in a city. When people are together cheering on a team, no one is arguing politics or philosophies. A democrat can cheer next to a republican. A Christian can high five an atheist. A gun owner can toast a beer with a pacifist. 

While ideally the Church should create the same kind of unity, so often differences in theology can drive us apart instead of keeping us unified on the Truth of Jesus coming to save humanity from their sins. This is where sports provides that example in a positive way, and one more people should be in tune with, and enjoy. 

Ultimately that is why sports draws people in, because it satisfies a human longing to be a part of something bigger than we are, and brings us together with those who may be different than us, and gives us something in common. It then can bridge the gap to having genuine friendships with people and forge paths towards seeing them for who they are, people whom Jesus does love.

So that is why tomorrow night Cleveland will be at a fever pitch of excitement and hope, because if the Cavs pull it off, Cleveland will look good to the watching country, and everyone will remember the team that overcame a 3-1 game deficit and starred down elimination three games in a row and didn't flinch. No team has ever done it; tomorrow, Cleveland looks to write a solo chapter in sports history! 

The Top 15 Albums of 2015

Better late that never, I have below my yearly top album countdown. Enjoy!

15. Rend Collective- “As Family We Go.”

 I have been a huge fan of these guys since “Homemade Worship By Hand Made People” came out in early 2012. I loved their unplugged folk and bluegrass sounds they implored with their straightforward worshipful lyrics. The songs were high energy and filled with mandolins, banjos, and all kinds of intriguing instruments. “As Family We Go” now their fourth full length release, tapers away from the rootsy sound and instead seems to gravitate to more straightforward rock and roll, which isn’t bad, but isn’t a fun as their earlier work in my view.

14. MuteMath- “Vitals.”

MuteMath have always flirted with the electronic. They have always mixed in rock and funk as well to keep things interesting, but on “Vitals” they seem to have finally decided to make an album of synthesizer infused pop. There is plenty for Owl City and Paper Route fans to enjoy here. “Joy Rides” and “Monument” are soon to be fan and concert favorites for sure.

13. Twenty One Pilots- “Blurryface”

Take folk roots, mix in some good electric guitar work, and then throw in some loops and rap over it all, while singing some parts of the songs as well, and you kind of get what Columbus Ohio natives Twenty One Pilots sound like. “Blurryface” is an album that is almost impossible to classify genre wise, and that is actually a strength! The lament of growing up in “Stressed Out” is so easily relatable to so many in this current generation. “HeavyDirtySoul” is a catchy tune that features a great lyric like ‘death inspires me like a dog inspires a rabbit.” The lyrics are key to these songs, as they often possess deep truth alongside sharp wit, which keeps the nerds happy. Some will probably say I should have ranked this album higher, and their arguments are valid, personally I am not a big a fan of hip-hop so that makes me a bit biased in the wrong direction.

12. Ivan & Alyosha- “It’s All Just Pretend”

 These guys just know how to make good rock and roll, and this release has them utilizing many an instrument to drive home the rhythm, from keyboards to guitars and drums. They seem to wed the sounds of two other Seattle bands, Death Cab For Cutie and Nirvana with ease. “Bury Me Deep” and “Tears In Your Eyes” are two of the best songs Ivan & Alyosha have in their catalog. The former is a rocker at it’s best, while the latter is a tender love song that is among my top songs of 2015.

11. The Dawes- "All Your Favorite Bands"

These fellas from San Francisco have been crafting 70's sounding rock and roll for quite some time now. This album may be their finest and overall most consistent album. While only nine songs long, it borrows from Lynyrd Skynyrd and The Allman Brothers using extended organ and guitar breaks to stretch songs, especially on the masterful "I Can't Think About That Now." Other favorites of mine are the tribute to obvious statements ("Things Happen") and the epitaph to youth and innocence on the title track.

10. Owl City- Mobile Orchestra

Adam Young has been one of my favorite modern songwriters for a while. After a near three year full album hiatus (though an EP and several singles had been released) Young dropped "Mobile Orchestra" this summer and it was a fine effort. "Verge" kicked the album off with vicious energy and features guest vocals from Aloe Blacc. "My Everything" and "You're Not Alone" feature Young's most explicit Christian lyrics thus far, while "Unbelievable" is a danceable tribute to the 90's, and the biggest charting single from the album to date. This is a fine album of fun like we have come to expect from Owl City, even when Young strays into a bit of melancholic tone on "This Isn't The End" he emerges by song's end in hope.

9. Passion Pit- "Kindred"

I am not always a pop music enthusiast, but this album of synthesizer based pop tunes is simply irresistible. Songs like "All I Want" "Where The Sky Hangs" and "Five Foot Ten" are gems. This is pop music done right, with nuances in sound scapes that keeps the listener interested!

8. Hillsong United- "Empires"

My dislike of these Aussie worship pioneers last album, "Zion" is well documented. So I was pleasantly surprised that this new album, while still keeping the synthesizer involved, doesn't allow it to take over the entire project. There is plenty of guitar here back on display! Songs like the epic near six minute ”Prince Of Peace" rank up there with the finest songs in their repertoire, while "Hurts Like Heaven" and "Touch The Sky" are radio friendly but not formula filled. Needless to say, I am glad these guys are back on track!

7. I Am They- "I Am They"

Roots music is the rage right now, and I Am They are doing it quit well. These are worship songs that call to mind Rend Collective in their early years. "From The Day" and "We Are Yours" steamroll with upbeat acoustic fun, and this debut is totally solid through their cover of Crowder's "Here's My Heart"

6. Ben Rector- "Brand New"

There may not be a songwriter alive right now that sings pop, rock and soul better than Ben Rector. This song collection is a joyful ride through stories and celebrations about everyday life. "The Men That Drive Me Places" is one of the best modern story songs, as Rector reminds each of us that there is no one who has an insignificant part to play or place to fit in the world. "Crazy" celebrates the joy of marriage and daily life, and "Like The World Is Gonna End" reminds us of the fleeting nature of our own existence, and the importance of laying aside pettiness.

5. Ghost Ship- "Costly"

Near the end of 2014, Mars Hill Church, due to the controversies surrounding founding Pastor Mark Driscoll, closed all of its campuses which encompassed a big chunk of the west coast. This was tragic on so many levels, but it was felt hard by all the bands that had risen out of the church families. Ghost Ship was one such band, suddenly without a label. They made the best of it, went indie, and delivered us this 14 song gem back in August. So many good songs here!

4. The Vespers- "Sisters And Brothers"

I realize I have a lot of folksy rootsy albums on this list, so I admit I am partial to that particular genre of music. Notwithstanding though, "Sisters And Brothers" The Vespers third effort is an enjoyable ride through bluegrass, folk, Gospel and slight country. Basically many a stringed instrument will make an appearance somewhere on this fine project. The title track, "The Curtain" "Not Enough" and the humorously upbeat sounding "Cynical Soul" are all highlights on this awesome album!

3. Sara Groves- "Floodplain"

Let me just say this, Sara Groves is to the Christian music world what Bruce Springsteen is to mainstream rock and roll: she tells the ongoing story of the struggle of every man and woman to survive in a fallen world. The main difference for Groves is she knows Jesus is where true Hope is found. This album in my humble opinion is her masterpiece thus far. "Expedition" is my choice for song of the year, as it expresses a yearning to go out and explore and search the world for "lost time" something so many of us can relate to! "Second Guess Girl" "On Your Mark" "My Dream" "Native Tongue" and the title track all speak to the humanness of all of us, living in a fallen world, but they do so with grace, kindness and love. Don't miss this gem! It is a classic!

2. Best Coast-"California Nights"

Good rock and roll is really hard to come by these days, so when I heard the title track and first single from this album on Spotify two months before this album dropped I knew I had found something special. The lo-fi mixing combined with the nineties guitar distortion and sixties sounding guitar solos, creates a sonic whirling that sucks you in! The lyrics are often simple and straightforward lamenting lost love ("In My Eyes" "Fine Without You") and petty disagreements ("Jealousy"). Yet there is also the joy of romance found in "Heaven Sent." This is a great, great rock and roll album! If you love classic sixties summer rock, you must get outside on some "California Nights.”

1. Andrew Peterson- "The Burning Edge Of Dawn"

Andrew Peterson is the modern day Rich Mullins with flashes of Mark Heard, two of Christian music history's finest at weaving the struggle of living in a sin filled world of pain with a desperate clinging to the hope found in Jesus. On "Burning Edge" Peterson does this from start to finish. "The Dark Before The Dawn," "We Will Survive," "The Rain Keeps Falling," and "Be Kind To Yourself" manage to acknowledge the depth of sadness one can feel while simultaneous reminding the listeners that Jesus loves them, has not abandoned them, and will one day make things right again. The album captivates for the full 37 minute run, and then it fades out leaving us all to ponder the messages of hope among the ruins. This is by far Peterson's finest album from start to finish.

On The Desire Of Knowledge: An Examination

I recently have had the question posed to me in regards to why I value knowledge and the pursuit of acquiring such knowledge so highly. Initially the question took me back a little, as I have always thought everyone has that thirst for knowing more about things they know little about. Apparently, this is not the case. 

I began henceforth to put some thought into answering this question. Why do I value education and learning so highly? As far as I can remember I have always desired to learn; from the time before I could read and taught myself to recognize patterns of writing so I could distinguish one side of a record from the other. 

As I began to analyze why, I began to realize that I desire knowledge because in a accumulating ideas, concepts, and statistics about a wide variety of topics allows me to 1) understand how people's minds work and function differently than my own and 2) connect with and have conversations with those people. 

The Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 10 speaks of desiring to be "all things to all people" and in collecting data about a variety of topics, areas of interest and historical records, I can speak to the interests of many different people. I can conduct somewhat intelligent conversations with people from many different background stories. As a leader in my Church, this is quite important in building relationships with people I encounter on a first time basis on regular occasions. 

While there will certainly be some interests that I have more of an abundance of thirst to develop and expand on more than others, I still try to take some interest in as many topics as I can. Often though, the more I learn about one topic or another, the more desire I have to expand my knowledge of that topic. It all basically seems to boil down to one simple truth I have learned about myself, I love to learn; I don't even have a legitimate other reason sometimes. I feel enriched when a new idea, original thought, or concept traverses my radar! 

So friends, my wish for you is that you keep on learning! Pursue knowledge to connect better with people and develop deeper relationships. Pursue knowledge to understand God's creation better! Dream big about what else there is to learn, and keep an open heart and mind to how God may use your mind to reveal new truth to you, and others around you! 

The 1995 Cleveland Indians! Wow has it really been 20 years?: a reflection

This weekend, the Indians are celebrating the 20th anniversary of the 1995 Cleveland Indian's team. That team was among the greatest in the history of baseball; certainly among the greatest baseball teams to not win a World Series! 

Every night it seemed, they would find a way to win, especially when they were at home in the still new Jacobs Field! They won over a dozen games in walk off fashion, often setting off car horn celebrations echoing into the summer night air in downtown Cleveland! They had a lineup that boasted eight .300 hitters! They had a starting rotation made up of veterans pitching their butts off for one last shot at glory! The bullpen was almost equally untouchable! They won 100 games in a strike shortened 144 game season! 

Alas I didn't watch much of those games during that glorious summer, but my grandfather began telling me about them. How the Indians were truly one of the most exciting teams he had ever watched, and he could remember the 1948 championship team. That summer, we would watch an inning or two of the games on TV, whenever I was at my grandparents house, and he began teaching me the rules of baseball, and the beauty that is the game! 

By October of that year, as the post season began, I had become a fan! I remember the first playoff game, I remember watching the first innings of it on TV at my grandparents. The excitement around Cleveland was everywhere! 

I have never lost my love for baseball, even now as the Indians have come close to, but never quite been as magic as that electric summer of '95. Echoes of that pulse still turn up once in while. Certainly it was present in the Tribe's unlikely return to the World Series in 1997, when they beat out both the Yankees and baseball's best team that year, the Orioles, to get there. Again in 2007 the late game heroics and playoff run brought to mind memories of 1995. 

Most recently in 2013, Jason Giambi seemed to channel 1995 Indians magic when he belted a pinch hit two out two run game winning home run to keep the Tribe's late season playoff push alive! Not only Giambi seemed to conjure up such memories, but the fans seemed to as well at Jacob's Field that night, as they roared loudly, and didn't leave for a good ten minutes after Giambi has completed his victory lap around the bases! 

I was there in person that night, and as I walked out of the stadium, serenaded by many a car horn, I felt that I finally was being given a small taste of what was nearly a nightly reality during the 1995 season: I was walking in a city full of boundless enthusiasm over a baseball team providing joy to fans in attendance and fans watching on their televisions and listening on their radios! 

The 1995 Cleveland Indians started what is now known as the "glory days" of Indians baseball that lasted through 1997. While we will never have that exact same team again, we certainly still have a team, and one that is once again building into a force to contend with on a daily basis. 

20 years has now passed, wow! I am looking forward to attending the celebration this weekend, thinking about my grandfather, now passed on, who taught me to love the game with that season as a backdrop! I was spoiled for sure, but then everyone who was a child back then was, believing no deficit was too large, and no lead was too small. It was special, and most certainly worth celebrating! 

May we one day win that elusive World Series! 


Sent from my iPhone

Free Writing as the Solution To Writer's Block: An Exersise

Writer’s block. We all have had it at one point or another. In fact, I have it right now, and thought it might be fun if I kind of walk you through my manner in which I step over the blockage that causes words to get stuck in my mind, and press forward into the land of thoughts being translated through my fingers and onto my word processing program’s white page.

It all starts with me going back to a sure fire way to get my mind lubricated to free the stuck words from their cerebral prison. This method was first brought to my attention by my high school online writing teacher (I was homeschooled) who had us do exercises where our Mom’s would set a timer for a pre-decided upon set of minutes and hand us a blank page of notebook paper, with simply one rule: the moment that timer began to tick away we had to put our pencil to the paper and write. Write about anything. Write about not having anything to write about. Write about the first thing that came to mind, even if was the Indians’ awesome win the previous evening or the family cat’s latest attempt to escape to the outdoors. There were no wrong ways to complete this activity, as long as you wrote something, until that timer went off, and then you were allowed to stop.

See so often we become concerned with trying to sound smart, or witty or creative that we forget the importance of simply putting our words on paper and communicating what we would say if we were talking to someone about whatever it is that we are writing about. A succinct set of words can be equally valuable as a flowery set of descriptive jargon can be, to a reader. Direct and to the point writing has extreme value for instance to the person who is reading an instruction manual who has very little knowledge of carpentry but has set himself to the task of assembling a wooden bookcase he bought from Wal-Mart.

Ultimately when dealt the frustrating sight of a blank, empty page, and words caught in the transition of mind to finger to page, I recommend the advice I gave a friend of mine who recently told me she was struggling to write down exactly what she wanted to say because she had so much to say. I told her that the best thing for her to do is to sit down and write until all of those thoughts had made it out of her head and onto the page. Once she had done that, all she wanted to say was on the page or pages in front of her, she just now needed to read over those thoughts, cut out the ones that didn’t express what she was trying to say, and leave only the solid gems of what she was trying to communicate.

Starting is always step one, and step one sometimes really is the hardest one to take! Opening up the mysterious and awesome portal of thoughts transitioning into written words is truly one of the great miracles of how God designed our brains to function through communication. Words are awesome! Ideas rock! Communicating with words about those ideas is where the breakdown often happens. The key is to not become so overwhelmed by the blockage that you cease to write at all, the key is to write whatever comes to mind first, and follow the rabbit trail from there! I do this all the time. I just did it now. I had no idea what I was going to write when I sat down, so I wrote about writers block!

Technolgy Advancement Aversion: Quirk? Or Is There More To The Story?.... (A Self-Examination)

Change; deep down, none of us like it. Moreover, we all deal with, and process it in numerous ways. Often in dealing with it, we do bizarre and strange things.

Take me for instance. I realized that for nearly two years now I have been reeling and rebelling against new technology, rationalizing that because it is different than what was around back when I was in high school, I can’t possibly understand how to use it, or even more emphatically feel safe and happy about trying to learn how to use it. I recently remembered that I wasn’t always this way. In fact in the years since I had finished college I had become much more open to new concepts, ideas, and ways to use our ever evolving technology. However, two years ago I moved out of my parent’s house, taking on a new challenge of total independence for the first time in my life. Because that was very subtly too overwhelming to take it on all at once, I retreated into the safety net of not being open to new things once again, because I can’t be certain new things are safe and profitable for me to engage my time, talent and treasure.

Upon having God reveal this to me this past week, I have begun to try to go back to that four year period of being open to new things, reminding myself that in those four years, I grew a lot in my relationship not only with Jesus, but with others in my community around me. You see, like I said to one of my good friends as I was beginning to process this, I am 28, not 56. That means that I am at a ripe age for being able to learn how to use new apps, online streaming, an iPhone game, and any other photo editing or computer program that I may desire to explore. These things are good, and not to viewed as my enemy.

However, I should still try and be careful how much time I devote to using them. Due to our culture’s obsession with constantly being connected on social media, and constantly entertained via online streaming sites such as Netflix, Hulu and YouTube, I need to moderate how much of each of these I let myself imbibe. Moderation in a technology driven society is of the utmost importance for our spiritual souls and physical bodies. Throwing that aside now would be a very dangerous attitude to allow myself to adopt. However, if I cautiously begin to open myself up to new things again, I think it could be very good for me. I will still be a weirdo, but a little less of one. I also will likely come across less judgmental of others who use new technology in their respective lives. God allows technological advancements to happen all the time, and they are never bad or sinful in and of themselves, but they can become sinful if we turn them into idols and allow too much of time to be consumed by binge watching TV shows, or repeated marathon games of Trivia Crack.

So first steps, well, watching a movie on Netflix, listening to the new Mumford & Sons album with an objective view, instead of being negatively biased immediately since they changed their sound, and downloading new apps such as Seat Geek and Stub Hub have been my slow but steady advancements so far. Keeping in mind God did create all things good before sin entered the picture (Genesis 2-3) and asking my close friends to hold me accountable so I don’t overindulge myself are two more components of this journey that has my summer off to an exciting start! Excited to see how God continues to shape and change me in the weeks, months and years to come!