Maybe I shouldn’t admit this, but as I’m working here at my desk on a Thursday afternoon, I’m checking ESPN.com every so often to see how game two is going in the Major League Baseball Division Series between the Detroit Tigers and the New York Yankees.          

(Right now it’s tied 3-3 in the seventh.)          

I don’t care so much who wins the game. I’m an incurable San Francisco Giants fan, and things haven’t been good for Giants fans the last couple of years. I guess without any particular loyalties, I’m supposed to root for the underdog now. In this game, that would be the Tigers, but any true baseball fan has to like guys with the heart of a Derek Jeter or a Mariano Rivera, so it’s tough to be a hardcore New Yank Yorkee hater.                   

I like baseball for several reasons, not least of which is that my dad was a Giants fan when I was a little boy, and thus I have been too, ever since the days of Mays, McCovey, and Marichal. But it’s not just about memories. Baseball is a microcosm of life; for the observant fan, the game is filled with life lessons.          

(Bottom of the seventh inning, Detroit up 4-3.)          

When I was younger, I couldn’t figure out why a fresh new pitcher, just up from the minor leagues, would be almost unhittable for his first few games, and then go into a tailspin. It’s not uncommon. So why does it happen?          

There are reasons that make perfect sense, but before getting to that I want to make a start on the life-lesson part of this column.          

Have you noticed that Christians also go through challenges in their spiritual lives? A new commitment to Christ will often be followed by a spiritual tailspin. An inspiring sermon or concert may create a spiritual high point. Maybe it’s a weekend retreat or a week of spiritual emphasis at school or church. We eventually come down from those spiritual high points. Why is that?          

(Still 4-3 Detroit in the eighth.)          

The difference between long-term success and failure in baseball is often a matter of making—or failing to make—necessary adjustments. Take Giants pitcher Noah Lowry as an example.           

When Lowry first came up to the majors in 2005, his first few games were stellar. He didn’t have an overpowering fastball, but he had a changeup that hitters just couldn’t touch. His arm action made the pitch look like a fastball, but it wasn’t. The batter would start his swing, timed for a fastball, then too late realize the ball was getting to the plate slower than expected. The result, all in a minor fraction of a second, was a mistimed swing, and a strike. Three of those and y'er outa' there!          

As I recall, Lowry won the first seven games he pitched—remarkable for a new big leaguer. But then the Giants started playing the same teams again. Those batters remembered how Lowry had made fools of them the first time around. They had watched video tape of their at-bats with him pitching. Now they had a pretty good idea what was coming, and they started teeing off on the same pitches. Lowry began losing games.          

(Top of the ninth, still 4-3. Detroit and New York are each on their third pitchers of the day.)          

OK, so the batters made adjustments to Lowry, but he’s not dumb. So what does he do? He makes adjustments to counter the hitters’ adjustments. He uses his fastball more. He develops a better curve ball. And so it goes throughout a major league career. It’s not about the first few weeks. It’s about the long haul—about changing and growing and never ceasing to learn new things.          

Well, you get the connection, right?           

Jesus said that we need to be like little children to inherit the kingdom (Matthew 18:3). To maintain the simplicity and the humility and the wide-eyed, innocent fascination of a child is an important part of spiritual health. But it’s not the only part.           

(Bottom of the ninth. Last chance for the Yankees in this game.)          

Being childlike has its limitations, according to Scripture. Consider Hebrews 5:11-14:          

“We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.”          

What’s the message? It’s important to grow up.           

(Another relief pitcher is throwing for Detroit in the ninth inning. Matsui has singled for New York. There’s one out.)          

I was baptized when I was 11 years old. My commitment to Christ was very strong. I possessed a solid faith, for a fifth grader. But I continued through school, and somewhere along the line I encountered algebra and puberty. My fifth-grader faith was no longer adequate. I had to make adjustments.           

When I was a junior in high school, I was forced to confront the staleness of my religious experience, and I went through a spiritual reawakening that was shocking and troubling, but ultimately it led to healthy new growth.          

Time passed. Along came college and graduate school. New intellectual pathways led to serious questions I could never have imagined in elementary school or high school. Marriage created a whole new set of challenges. Time for more adjustments.          

And it’s true of all of us. A childish faith isn’t good enough for an adult Christian.          

(Final score: Tigers 4, Yankees 3. Series tied at one a piece. Game three tomorrow in Detroit.)           

So the Tigers won this game. Between now and tomorrow’s game, you can bet the best Detroit and New York players will be thinking about today’s game. They’ll be figuring out what adjustments it will take to get an edge tomorrow.          

Should a Christian be any less eager than a baseball player to keep changing and growing?  

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Addendum, 10/9/06: So, the underdog Tigers unexpectedly made those necessary adjustments more effectively than the Yankees. Not only did they win the game on Thursday; two Detroit pitchers were uncharacteristically dominant on Friday and Saturday, and before the vaunted Yankees–with all of those unseemly salaries–could regroup, they were sent packing for the winter. There is no joy in Mudville–unless,  of course,  Mudville is spelled  D-E-T-R-O-I-T. 

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Further addendum, 10/15/06: Detroit, again considered by many to be the underdog, breezed through the American League Championship Series and dispatched the Oakland A's in four straight games–finishing off the last game with a ninth-inning three-run homer by Magglio Ordonez. Final score: 6-3. Some veteran observers are saying the most important presence in the dugout is not a player, but veteran manager Jim Leyland. He's one of the oldest managers in major league baseball, but also one of the most savvy, both as a motivator of players and as a game strategist. Leyland is a real grownup who has maintained a childlike love of the game combined with a mature understanding of its complexities. He's just better than most because he hasn't stopped learning. He is willing to take risks and try the unexpected, and the Detroit players respond by playing with a heart that reflects their manager. There must be several life lessons that can be extracted from the Tigers' postseason. Next up: the World Series with either the Mets or the Cardinals, who are still slugging it out in the National League Championship Series. So far, that series is tied, 2-2.

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Additional further addendum, 10/20/06: So, in the sixth inning of game seven of the National League Championship Series, New York Mets fans were thinking, It just doesn't get any better than this, after Endy Chavez pulled an apparent Scott Rolen homerun back from over the left field fence and then completed a 7-4-3 double play, cutting down Jim Edmonds at first base. Mets fans were to discover they were right; it didn't get any better. It got worse. St. Louis Cardinals starter Jeff Suppan halted the Mets momentum by blanking them in the bottom of the inning. Then the teams played through a 1-1 tie until the ninth inning when Yadier Molina–he of the .216 regular season batting average–slammed a two-run homer for St. Louis. Finally, with St. Louis leading 3-1, Mets slugger Carlos Beltran–up with the bases loaded and two out in the bottom of the ninth–stood still and watched an Adam Wainright curve ball drop into the strike zone for strike three. Game over. Detroit Tigers manager Jim Leyland, who watched the game at home to see which team he'd be playing in the World Series, said later that it was such a good game his heart was racing as he watched–a rarity indeed for a veteran manager watching a game in which he was not involved. For New York baseball fans, it's a different team, same result. The World Series, which a couple weeks ago seemed destined to be another "subway series," is to be an all-Midwest event between two former underdogs. And we are left with one of the oldest and most important life lessons in the history of the planet: The lesson of the underdog. The Detroit Tigers and the St. Louis Cardinals both lost more games than they won following the mid-season All Star break. They both nearly choked near the end of the regular season. But what did they not do? They did not give up. Pretty cool stuff. World Series game one: Saturday night.

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Final further addendum, 10/28/06: So the underdog theme continued, and the Cardinals prevailed in just five games, during which a Tigers pitcher committed an error in every game–a new World Series record. The games were much more competitive than the Cardinals' final 4-1 record makes it appear, but the event had the lowest TV rating of any World Series ever; that is probably because it was played by two teams from the heartland rather than the coasts, and because "Dancing With the Stars" was on a different channel. Nevermind. Let's hear it one more time for the underdogs! Meanwhile, for all the other teams (including the Giants), hope springs eternal. We'll get 'em next year!