The other day, Dillon Powell—a true baseball fan—was telling me about a college baseball pitcher that could pitch with either hand. Pat Venditte is a first team All-Conference relief pitcher for Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska. When left-handed hitters come up to bat, he throws to them with his left hand. When right-handed batters step up to the plate, he pitches to them with his right hand. I’ve heard of switch-hitters before, but never a switch-pitcher! Interestingly, the ambidextrous hurler throws 78 to 81 miles per hour with his left hand, and 88 to 91 MPH with his right. To call this remarkable is an understatement. He just came off a great junior year in which he recorded an 8-2 won-loss record, 4 saves, a 1.88 earned run average, 99 strikeouts in 95 2/3 innings, and a 32 2/3-inning scoreless streak! Wow! I hope he makes it to the professional level. It sure would be a treat to watch this guy pitch in the big leagues some day.
This story led me to tell Dillon about another unusual baseball player. A one-armed guy named Pete Gray. When I first mentioned Pete Gray to Dillon, he thought I was talking about Jim Abbott, another remarkable athlete. Jim Abbott was a major league pitcher from 1989 to 1998. He was born with no right hand, but with his left hand he became quite a pitcher. (He let his glove rest on his stub while he was pitching, and immediately transferred it to his hand after each pitch.) After an award-winning collegiate career at the University of Michigan, including winning an Olympic gold medal as a pitcher for Team USA in 1988, Abbott bypassed the minor leagues entirely and jumped directly to the majors, where he pitched for the Angels, the Yankees, the White Sox, and the Brewers. Among his 87 career wins as a major leaguer was the no-hitter he threw against the Cleveland Indians at Yankee Stadium in 1993. What a great success story!
Pete Gray’s story is less well known in modern-day circles, but to me it's even more incredible. The Pennsylvania native played professional baseball back in the 1940s. But he wasn’t a pitcher. He was an outfielder, fielding and throwing the ball…and swinging a bat…with only one arm! At the age of 6, he lost his right arm in an accident. But through his strong will and sheer determination, he persevered and learned to excel at his favorite sport in spite of his severe handicap.Pete Gray played several years as a semi-pro and minor leaguer before gaining noteriety in 1944 as a player for Memphis in the Southern Association. That year, he hit an amazing .333, stole a league-leading 68 bases, slugged 5 home runs (!), and was named
the league’s Most Valuable Player. That was good enough to earn him a call-up to the majors in 1945 with the American League’s St. Louis Browns. The baseball talent pool was significantly depleted during the war years, and Gray probably never would have gotten a shot at the majors otherwise. Indeed, some see his call up to the majors as merely a publicity stunt. But there’s no doubt from his minor league performance that he earned his way there. At the major league level, however, he could only manage a meager .218 batting average in 77 games played. (I’d be happy if I could have hit .218 in the majors with my two arms!) The following season, when all the soldiers returned home from the war, Gray was back in the minors. He never played in the big leagues again.
My late father-in-law, who worked for the old L & N (Louisville and Nashville) Railroad, and traveled throughout the South on a work crew in his younger years, told me about seeing Pete Gray play in person. He said it was quite amazing. In the outfield, Gray would catch a fly ball with his glove and, in one sweeping motion, flip the ball and glove across his chest, grabbing the ball in the air as it came out of the glove. Then he would fire the ball back into the infield. I would love to see a video of that!
Pete Gray obviously had to have a tremendous amount of determination and personal strength to accomplish what he did. The story of Pete Gray reminds us that we can accomplish great things against the odds, even when other people tell us it’s impossible. Furthermore, it reminds us that when life hands us a lemon, we need to give it back to God and let him make it into sweet lemonade.Sometimes in life people tell us that we can’t do things. 25 years ago, when I told a respected and trusted friend that I felt God was calling me into the ministry, he responded by saying, “Honestly, Danny, I just don’t see it.” (You didn’t know me then, but I was incredibly shy and absolutely terrified of public speaking.) My friend’s words were discouraging, to say the least, but I didn’t let them deter me. I knew in my heart what God had called me to do. And I’m sure glad that God could see what my friend couldn’t see.
What abilities, gifts or personal resources are lying dormant in your life? What dreams have you put on hold because someone discouraged you? Was it a selfish dream or a God-inspired dream? Whatever you have…and whoever you are…give it to God. Even your handicaps, weaknesses and limitations…give them to God as well. Remember that the Apostle Paul said that when we are weak, God's power can make us strong. How so? Because in our weakness, we're much more likely to rely on God than on ourselves. Paul went on to say that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. Not selfish things, of course, but the things that God has called us to do. For God always equips those whom He calls.
So, go ahead, give yourself fully to God, warts and all. And when you do, you just might be amazed at what He is able to accomplish in and through your life.
Pastor Danny
