Some Players Just Seem

SOME PLAYERS JUST SEEM to be winners. Chris Drury is one of those players. Championships are drawn to him like a magnet.

In 1989, he claimed his first while playing Little League baseball. His Trumbull, Connecticut, squad advanced to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, after winning the United States East Region. Few expected the American 12-year-olds to provide strong competition, since foreign teams had captured 18 of the previous 22 titles.

But following victories over Davenport, Iowa, and San Pedro, California, the New Englanders faced Kaohsiung, Taiwan, in the championship. The Taiwanese used their ace left-hander, Hsu Ming-Lan, in a 13–0 semifinal win over Maracaibo, Venezuela, and were forced to throw Lee Chien-Chih in the final. The United States team countered with Drury, a pitcher adept at throwing fastballs and off-speed junk.

Taiwan opened the scoring with a run in the first when left fielder Dan McGrath misjudged a deep fly ball. But after seeing Chien-Chih’s unorthodox pitching style once, Trumbull rocked the Taiwanese hurler for two runs in the third, two in the fourth, and a home run by Ken Martin in the fifth.

In the meantime, Drury handled the pitching duties masterfully by using slow-breaking pitches to keep the Taiwanese off balance. The 5-foot-1-inch, 126-pound hurler limited Kaohsiung to five hits while striking out two and walking four. In the final inning, the youngster walked the lead-off hitter but retired the next three. McGrath gloved a fly ball on the warning track for the game’s last out in Trumbull’s 5–2 triumph for the Little League World Championship.

But Williamsport wasn’t Chris Drury’s only championship. His Boston University hockey team won the NCAAs, his Colorado Avalanche won the Stanley Cup, and his USA hockey team won silver in the 2002 Olympics. Incredibly, Drury met 41st President George Bush with his Little League team and 43rd President George W. Bush with the Avalanche.

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POINT Victory seems to follow Chris Drury. And victory followed the Israelites in the Old Testament. God issued instructions for his people and joined their battle. He expected them to prepare, to take care of unfinished business before reporting for duty, and to treat their enemies according to his rules. When they obeyed God, they won.

GOAL! Read God’s instructions in Deuteronomy 20 about victory in war. Praise God for his presence in the victories in your life.