When Former Collegiate

WHEN FORMER COLLEGIATE baseball players signed with the independent Salt Lake City Trappers in 1987, most were just glad to be able to continue playing the game they loved. But the team of castoffs accomplished a feat to remember.

The franchise, with no major-league affiliation, stocked its roster with undrafted free agents. Salt Lake City opened the season with three victories and two defeats. A 6–5 loss to the Pocatello Giants on June 24 lowered the Trappers’ record to .500. But suddenly the independent team started winning, and the string didn’t stop.

Game by game, the Trappers approached the all-time consecutive win streak of 27 games held jointly by the 1902 Corsicana (Texas) Tigers and the 1921 Baltimore Orioles. Salt Lake City broke the record at home on July 25 with victory number 28 in a 13–3 decision over Pocatello. The Trappers added another win for good measure, edging the Giants 8–6 the following day.

Going on the road in quest of No. 30, Salt Lake City faced the Billings Mustangs. The Trappers took a 2–0 lead in the first, but Billings countered with six runs in the bottom of the inning, capped by Eddie Taubensee’s three-run homer. Mike Malinak closed the gap to 7–5 with a solo shot in the sixth, but reliever Quinn Marsh escaped jams in the eighth and ninth to preserve the Mustang win.

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POINT The streak ended at 29 wins in a row, but the Salt Lake City Trappers had made history. Signing with the independent team kept the young athletes in the game. The players could have been upset by not being drafted by a big-league team. They could have given up because of their “bad luck.” But instead they made the most of their situation. They overcame their unfortunate circumstances with a good attitude.

The Bible tells Christians to do the same thing. As believers, we shouldn’t let evil surroundings or circumstances get us down. Instead, we should overcome our circumstances by doing good.

GOAL! If you look around, you’ll probably notice a lot of evil in the world. And that makes sense, because Satan rules the earth. But when you know Jesus, you have power in you that’s greater than anything in this world. And God’s power will help you overcome evil.