Faith In The Game

The Bicycle — by Ben Petrick

The following story is excerpted from Ben Petrick’s new book, “40,000 to One.” To find out more about the book, and to place an order, please visit www.BenPetrick.com.

Ben is founder of Faith In The Game. A former Major Leaguer with the Colorado Rockies and Detroit Tigers, Ben has Parkinson’s disease and recently underwent an aggressive surgery called Deep Brain Stimulation to alleviate his symptoms. A recent ESPN feature on Ben and his family can be found here, and a television news story on Ben’s amazing recovery can be found here. Ben chronicles his progress, along with stories of faith, family and baseball, in this blog.

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In the film “The Tree of Life,” the mother says in narration, “There are two ways through life — the way of nature and the way of grace. You have to choose which one you’ll follow.

“Nature,” she goes on to say, “only wants to please itself. Get others to please it, too. Likes to lord it over them. To have its own way. It finds reasons to be unhappy when all the world is shining around it.

“But grace doesn’t try to please itself. Grace accepts being slighted, forgotten. Accepts insults and injuries.”

It’s not adequate to say that my mother possesses grace. Grace is my mother.  The two are interchangeable.

I’ll pause right here and say that I realize it’s not uncommon to write about your mother in awe-inspired terms, as if you’re seeing the Grand Canyon for the first time. But if you met my mother, you’d know.

You’d know she’s a revelation, like seeing anything for the first time must be.

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Hello Friends — Apologies that we’ve been away lately — please know it’s been with good reason. We have been working on a book of stories by Faith in the Game co-founder Ben Petrick. That collection will be made available in the coming days.

You’ll also be reading and hearing a lot more about Ben and his brave fight against Parkinson’s disease, starting with an incredible feature story now appearing in ESPN: The Magazine, written by legendary sportswriter Steve Wulf. It’s a great testament to the Petrick family and their journey. The story is only available in print editions right now, and will be online in January.

Ben’s new book, 40,000 to One, is available at BenPetrick.com.

Very cool piece about Andy Finch, the snowboarder who currently appears on The Amazing Race. Extremely humble for such a young guy.

The Lost Art of Listening, by Ben Petrick

Ben Petrick is co-editor of Faith In The Game. A former Major Leaguer with the Colorado Rockies and Detroit Tigers, Ben has Parkinson’s disease and recently underwent an aggressive surgery called Deep Brain Stimulation to alleviate his symptoms. A television news story on Ben’s amazing recovery can be found here. Ben chronicles his progress, along with stories of faith, family and baseball, in this blog.

This entry was inspired by a couple of things. One was the talk that I had with a couple of young baseball players to whom I was giving hitting lessons a couple of days ago.  The other was a swimming lesson my daughter had last week.

My daughter just turned 4 years old and has had swimming lessons in the past, but this time it feels a little different.  She is getting to that age where she is really starting to grasp instructions and as long as she is giving her undivided attention. At this particular swimming lesson there was another little kid that was bobbing his head underwater throughout the lesson, even while the teacher was talking.  The teacher asked repeatedly for him to stop and listen, but the kid was just playing and having fun. But when his play led my daughter to stop paying attention, I had flashbacks of my dad saying that when an adult is talking, look them straight in the eye so they know you are listening. 

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Vanity Insanity — by Ben Petrick

I recently traveled back to Nashville for a Parkinson’s fundraising event, put on by Brent Pederson, a former NHL hockey player and coach that has Parkinson’s disease.  He now holds a position in the Nashville Predators front office.  The team, along with their foundation, helped Brent put this annual event on.  There were 940 people there supporting both foundations and they raised over $300,000 at the event.  I was honored to give a short speech about my story and former NBA player Brian Grant shared some words as well. 

I’m more than happy to participate in these types of events. While I wasn’t born to be a public speaker — and my Parkinson’s–induced mumble doesn’t help the matter — I am improving.  Events like this one give me hope that through increased fundraising, science and technology will continue to improve and research will one day find a way to eradicate Parkinson’s disease all together. 

When I retired from baseball seven years ago, it seemed like a nice idea that I would become a spokesperson for Parkinson’s research.  The reality, though, is that as my symptoms grew worse, all I wanted to do was retreat. We tend to romanticize struggle in our country. Scrappiness and grit a part of the American fabric. But the fact is that struggle is a process, and deciding to turn into the wind rather than away from it takes time.

In my case, my history as a standout athlete created an enormous conflict in me. On one hand, it gave me a platform above and beyond most Parkinson’s patients. On the other, vanity is part and parcel of being an athlete — at least it was for me.

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Trust The Man, by Colt McCoy

Colt McCoy, 24, is the starting quarterback for the Cleveland Browns, having been taken in the third round of the 2010 NFL Draft. 

McCoy was the starting quarterback for the University of Texas Longhorns from 2006–2010, and was the Heisman Trophy runner-up in 2008. McCoy won more games as a quarterback (45) than anyone else in NCAA Division I history. But in what would be his final college appearance, he suffered a shoulder injury during the 2010 BCS National Championship Game against Alabama in the first quarter. Though x-rays were negative, he did not return to the game

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There are so many verses you can read about faith and trust in God, but until you’ve experienced something drastic in your life, you don’t really know what it means to have faith; to have trust.

There are many people whose stories are more profound than mine, but when I think about a time when my faith was most profound — and most tested — I go back to the 2010 Rose Bowl, which was the national championship game.

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LIFE.

DO IT.

Please click here for a behind-the-scenes look at Urban Meyer’s decision to leave his post as head football coach at University of Florida to focus on faith and family.

“One of the most impactful lessons I learned over the course of my career was the difference between a goal and a plan.” — Tom Landry

“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,’ declares the LORD, ‘and will bring you back from captivity.’” — Jeremiah 29: 11-14

This video is a little old, but just came to our attention. A defining moment in South Africa’s history wasn’t an uprising or a coups. It was the formation of a soccer league by political prisoners during apartheid. These same men who lost their freedom but found hope in a game they loved, would go on to govern the new South Africa. It’s a beautiful demonstration of what sports reveals about the human spirit.

“THESE DAYS WE HAVE THE LUXURY OF EXPERIENCING A SADNESS OUR PARENTS NEVER HAD TIME FOR.” — “Beginners”

“Crash,” by Ben Petrick

Ben Petrick is co-editor of Faith In The Game. A former Major Leaguer with the Colorado Rockies and Detroit Tigers, Ben has Parkinson’s disease and recently underwent an aggressive surgery called Deep Brain Stimulation to alleviate his symptoms. A television news story on Ben’s amazing recovery can be found here. Ben chronicles his progress, along with stories of faith, family and baseball, in this blog.

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Like many sports fans, as a kid, I grew up idolizing players and praying that one day I could be a professional athlete. I had my idols: Don Mattingly, Roger Craig and Clyde Drexler — all men of character, though not men of outward faith.

Ironically, if they had been, I might have been less apt to follow them.

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You can’t say, “I can’t.” You can say, “I’m having trouble, but I’m not done yet.” — “The Tree of Life”

“Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, for Him.” — Psalm 27:14

“All of us know when we were born, but only a few of us know why.” — David Feherty, speaking of Tom Watson, who he says helped pull him from his alcoholic despair

“To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heavens.” — Ecclesiastes 3:1