Rocking the Batters to Sleep

“The mediocre teacher tells, the good teacher explains, the superior teacher demonstrates, and the great teacher inspires.” – William Arthur Ward

Over the course of my 65 years, I have had my share of teachers that fit all the above descriptions.

One such teacher wasn’t a teacher at all, but rather my first Little League coach. Sam Hamill “drafted” me to play third base and pitch for the Merchantville Cardinals when I was 11, and I rewarded him by batting .333 that season. But what I remember the most – other than being on the winning end of a 25-2 shellacking of our arch-rival, the Reds – was a lesson Mr. Hamill taught me the very first day of practice.

“Robin Roberts used to rock the batters to sleep,” Mr. Hamill said, referring to the recently retired Hall of Fame pitcher who won 286 games over his 19-year career. And then, to make sure that the other pitchers and I understood what he meant, Mr. Hamill imitated Roberts’ famous windup and delivery.

That was 54 years ago… and I still remember it like it happened yesterday.

I also remember sitting in Ms. Kwochka’s 10th grade American History class and Mrs. Willsey’s 12th grade World History class and being inspired by their lessons as they brought famous historical figures to life. To this day, I have a deep love and appreciation for history and if I had 10 lifetimes to live, at least one of them would probably be spent teaching that subject myself.

Then again, as much as I love baseball and history – and yes, baseball history, too – there is one subject that fascinates me more than any other because of its importance… and that is the Bible. No textbook and no scorecard can begin to hold my attention more than the Word of God, especially the story of Jesus, because as the Apostle Paul says so eloquently and powerfully in Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.”

Sam Hamill taught me how to pitch, and a handful of excellent teachers instilled in me a passion for history. However, the greatest debt I owe is to the pastors who over the past 50 years have stood in church pulpits and boldly proclaimed His Truth to my spiritually-hungry soul. At the risk of leaving someone out, I will mention the first names of a few of these faithful men of God.

Thank you, Jim, and Gary, and Bill, and Tom, and Dave, and Derrick, and Roger, and Russ, and Chap.

“Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine.” I Timothy 5:17 (NKJV)

- Rev. Dale M. Glading, President