Hey, I Know You

Saturday, July 19, 2025

Our grandson, Carter, had two more baseball games today and will have one or two tomorrow. And Bill and I took our son, Patrick, and his daughter to see the Florence Y’all’s last night in Northern Kentucky. It was during that game that I remembered an old story. 

In the summer of 1986 before children arrived in our home, Bill and I went to a few baseball games. Since we are SF Giants fans we tried to go see them whenever we could in Chicago, St Louis, Cincinnati or Atlanta. Before every game, we always got there early so we could watch batting practice. Every so often we would score a baseball from one of the players. 

This particular summer I was able to slip down with a baseball into the lower level prior to the games to charm some signatures from some of the guys as they warmed up. I struck up conversations with some of them. They were always curious about how far their fans had come to see them play. 

One day when we were in Cincinnati to see the Giants play a series with the Reds, Bill and I walked around downtown to kill some time before the game. It was on a sidewalk in Cincinnati that we ran into Luis Quiñones. He saw us and paused for a moment. “Do you all follow us EVERYwhere?” he asked.  Goodness. You know it’s bad when the players start to recognize YOU!

How many times have we been just faceless bodies sitting in the right field bleachers of life? It’s hard to be recognized from the field when your seats are in the 4th level of the park. Basically we are nobodies in a sea of nobodies — nobodies who like baseball.

I’m so glad that God doesn’t let me blend in with the crowd. He sees me clearly — every defining feature. He knows my name. He knows me. 

LORD, you are my hero. Thank you for taking interest in all of us. Help us to remember that you created us and knew us before we were even born. Help us to come to grips with the fact that you don’t want to just pass us on the street but that you want to spend time with us. We are important to you!