The Official Sport of the Slow Church Movement

Last updated on: May 17, 2012 at 11:53 am by John Pattison

The Official Sport of the Slow Church Movement 2012-05-17T11:53:22-05:00 John Pattison

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I think baseball should be the official sport of the Slow Church movement.

I love baseball. When I can, I listen to or watch games at home. I read books about baseball. (I’m currently reading Bruce Weber’s magnificent As They See ‘Em: Travels in the Land of Umpires.) I play catch or wiffle ball at home with my daughter. And I like to take in games at the high school, the local short-season single-A team, and even the very occasional big league game. The two things I have most on mind these days are Slow Church and baseball. Here is my first, albeit ham-fisted (and self-indulgent!), attempt to connect the two.

Baseball is slow. Back in 1956, the sportswriter Dick Wade timed a nine-inning, high-scoring big league game and found that the ball was in play – defined as the time between when the ball leaves the pitcher’s hand and when it reaches the plate, and, on balls that were hit, the time before the hitter was either safe or out – for just 8.5 minutes. In 2000, Rick Reilly, a cranky Sports Illustrated columnist, famously used a stopwatch and determined that, in a Yankees-A’s game that lasted three hours and 15 minutes, the ball was in play for 12 minutes and 22 seconds. Reilly ended his column this way:

Percentage of time that the ball wasn’t in play: 94.

Percentage of time my cerebrum wasn’t in play: 94.

Number of baseball players crushed by unexpected fiery chunk of Planet Zorbig hurtling to earth: Not nearly enough.

Times I plan on watching baseball on TV ever again: 0.

That’s okay, I had stopped reading his stuff years before.

The slow and measured tempo of baseball appeals to me, as it does for many folks. The time between pitches and innings gives the fan time to chat with their neighbors, not to mention the time to think (Reilly’s inactive cerebrum notwithstanding), which is maybe one reason why baseball inspires so much philosophy and poetry and literature.

When I think about the connection between Slow Church and baseball, George Carlin’s famous comedy routine comparing baseball and football also comes to mind. “Baseball is a nineteenth-century pastoral game,” he starts. “Football is a twentieth-century technological struggle.” Carlin says it better than I can. You can read the transcript of his routine here. But I recommend watching the video. I bring it out every year when I want to tease my pacifist Mennonite friend about being such a big football fan:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmXacL0Uny0

Previous Post

May 16, 2012

Alan Roxburgh - Call to the Parish [Video]

Next Post

May 22, 2012 Bonhoeffer on The Fellowship of the Table

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Abundance Advent Books Community Conferences Conversations Ecology Economics Emergent Eucharist Family Food Gratitude Happenings Health history Hospitality Justice Lent Meditations Neighborhoods News Peace Place Poetry Politics Sabbath Scripture Stories Technology The Table Theology Uncategorized What is Slow Church? Youth

Select a Month January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 March 2016 June 2015 March 2015 February 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

How many years between David's reign and the Babylonian exile?

Select your answer to see how you score.

400 years 300 years 500 years 450 years