Who's in your bullpen?

Tonight during the 18 inning game between the Atlanta Braves and Houston Astros I couldn't help but see future Hall of Famer Roger Clemens as an allegory to what I beleive we in the ministry covet most... loyal team players.

For those of you who do not follow baseball we're currently in the first series of the playoffs. The Braves were down 2 games to 1 going into tonight's game 4. If Houston wins, they move on... if the Braves win, the series goes to Atlanta for a final game to decide who moves on.

Clemens was scheduled to pitch tomorrow.

Tonight the game was tied 6-6 in the 15th inning (yes, baseball games normally only go to 9 innings) when Roger Clemens was brought in to HIT in place of the pitcher whom he was to relieve. Clemens did his job! He laid a great bunt to ADVANCE THE RUNNER. Clemens went to the plate to sacrafice his own ability to get on base (we need this in ministry). After advancing the runner you would have thought Clemens hit a home run by the way the crowd responded. Here was a 43 year old hall of fame pitcher coming into the game to take one for the team.

Immediately after advancing the runner, Clemens went into the dugout under the stadium to warm up to PITCH THE REST OF THE GAME! Clemens went on to get the Win when teammate Chris Burke hit a home run in the bottom of the 18th to win the game and take the series.

There were a lot of heroes for the Astros in this game but seeing Clemens' performance made me reflect and think about the types of people we need to be and we need to surround ourselves with. It truly takes a team. We need players who are great in their own right but have the confidence to also 'do what it takes'. We need people who get the vision and who act on the vision. We need people who will make the sacrafice to move runners along because they understand the game. Too often times churches become stagnant because arrogant ball players want to be a hero. Clemens came out of the dugout for the first time since 1984! This wasn't his position. He's not used to this. He's a starter... blah blah blah.

The fact is that Clemens wanted to help his team win the game. Yes he gets paid to play but I know his attitude and performance are a result of his love for the game and desire to help his team win in any way possible.

As an aside, the Astros moved much of their team around during the later innings of the game. A catcher played first, a shorstop played first, etc. It led me to believe that the Astros as a team truly believe in the team concept and all of them are willing to do what it takes to get the win.

With that being said... Who is in your bullpen? Do you have the players around you that you could call on if necessary? I'll accept annomous posts on this one :)

By the way, if you enjoy baseball annalogies Gary Lamb has a great breakdown of the connection between the Braves and the church.