The Baseball that Broke Chicago's Heart
By Fr. Jim McDougall
St. Francis of Assisi Parish, Ann Arbor

+ A reading from the holy gospel according to Luke

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days, where He was tempted by the devil. During that time, He ate nothing, and at the end of it He was hungry. The devil said to Him, "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to turn into bread." Jesus answered him, "Scripture has it, 'Not on bread alone shall man live.'" Then the devil took Him up higher and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a single instant. He said to Him, "I will give you all this power and the glory of these kingdoms; the power has been given to me and I give it to whomever I wish. Prostrate yourself in homage before me, and it shall all be yours." In reply, Jesus said to him, "Scripture has it, 'You shall do homage to the Lord your God; Him alone shall you adore."' Then the devil led Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the parapet of the temple, and said to Him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for Scripture has it, 'He will bid His angels watch over you'; and again, 'With their hands they will support you, that you may never stumble on a stone."' Jesus said to him in reply, "It also says, 'You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.'" When the devil had finished all this tempting he left Him, to await another opportunity.

The Gospel of the Lord.

REFLECTION

The baseball that broke Chicago's heart was recently destroyed.

As you may remember, in Game 6 of last year's National League Championship series, the Chicago Cubs were five outs away from their first World Series since 1945. But in the eighth inning, Cubs fan Steve Bartman deflected a fly ball that was headed for the glove of Cubs outfield Moises Alou, who was unable to catch it after it ricocheted off Bartman's hand. What was a certain inning-ending out was ruled a foul ball. The Florida Marlins rallied to win the game, and then take the decisive Game 7. The Marlins went on to beat the New York Yankees in the World Series.

The ball was picked up by an unidentified 33-year-old lawyer, who auctioned the ball in December. Harry Caray's Restaurant in Chicago bought the ball for $106,000.

What did Harry Caray's plan to do with the ball? Display it?

No. Destroy it.

"We (bought the ball) to end the pain for Cubs fans and to vindicate Steve Bartman," explained the restaurant owners. "We didn't want it in the hands of a Marlins fan who would then put it on display, because the ball would always be a reminder of what could have been. We had to buy it so we could get rid of it."

The restaurant had been collecting ideas and suggestions from fans as to the most creative and satisfying ways to banish the ball and complete the exorcism for Cub Nation and the long suffering Steve Bartman. Suggestions include soaking the ball in liquid nitrogen and smashing it into a million pieces; having NASA launch the ball into outer space; and secretly burying it in Yankee Stadium thereby transferring the curse to the Yankees!

The restaurant destroyed the ball on February 26 to mark the sixth anniversary of the death of Harry Caray, the Cubs legendary broadcaster. A combination of pressure, heat and explosives to reduce the ball to a pile of string inside a bulletproof tank.

Harry Caray's has the right idea: Let go of the things that diminish and hurt us; get rid of those things that weigh us down in depression and cynicism; banish from our lives those things that distract us from happiness and fulfillment. We spend a great deal of time and energy (if not capital) holding on to the sins that diminish us, that cause us and others anguish and pain, that make us less than the people God created us to be. As we begin this season of Lenten transformation, let's take a cue from Cub Nation: Let go of the evils, the hurts, the disappointments that we preserve in "display cases" and, once and for all, "destroy" them and banish them from our lives, so that we may look forward, in hope and peace, to the joy and promise of the Resurrection.