Great article on MSNBC.com that talks about the Evangelical Baseball Leagues. Here’s some of my choice quotes from the article:
In the Cape Cod (Mass.) Evangelical Church Softball League, players become ineligible if they don’t attend two Sunday services a month.
In eastern Massachusetts, teams in the evangelical league are limited to three “unsaved” players each—and must turn in a roster specifically highlighting them as such before the start of the season, so that others in the congregation can pray for their salvation and mail literature to their homes. (The rulebook cautions that ” ‘Outreach Players’ should not be selected for their athletic ability,” but rather for their genuine interest in finding Christ.)
The rulebook of the Stateline Evangelical Softball League in Rockford, Ill., requires long pants at all times; in especially hot weather, shorts are OK only if both managers agree—and only, the rulebook notes in red type, if they are “moderate and knee length.” Needless to say, stealing is not allowed.
The following sounds like a familiar quote I heard from the Kingdom Hall platform:
“It’s competitive, but we also understand that we’re to represent Jesus in what we say and what we do, and that can be hard on the softball field.”
Oye! I remember when some of us youths would get together for friendly games of football on Sunday afternoons after meeting. Some kids would come and want to play and we would say, “Nuh-Uh. You haven’t been to any meetings lately. You can’t play.”
Geez.
Link to full article
-ithinkisee