First Plague Strikes Yankees in Cleveland  

When Pharaoh refused to let the children of Israel leave Egypt, God inflicted seven plagues upon the land and made life so miserable for the Egyptians, that they had no choice but to let the people go.  It took a long time for the Pharaoh to relent and give in to these strange happenings, but eventually, the exodus began by the Israelites.  That next forty years of history has had one of the greatest cultural influences on all of civilization.  The revelations from God and rules of law are still the basic structural moral compass for our laws, jurisprudence, and worship traditions that we observe to this day.  This all started with the plagues!  I cannot be sure that this series of plagues will hold the same level of importance in the history of mankind.  But....

On a recent Friday night in Cleveland during the American League Divisional Playoff series, we may have seen the start of a new series of plagues.  It all started when New York was protecting a slim lead of 1-0 over Cleveland on an unusually warm October night.  Even though the Indians had runners on in almost every inning, they could not score a single run to tie the game.  That is until the plague of the MIDGES emerged out of Lake Erie and descended on the entire crowd at Jacobs Field.  One of the leagues most successful pitchers who had one wild pitch all year, threw two (2) wild pitches in the same inning and allowed a run to score without a hit.  The midges were all over him and it looked like hundreds of them had landed on his neck and were in his face.  After tying the score at 1-1, Cleveland won the game in extra innings despite their inability to score without the aid of the midges. 

If you have ever been a Cleveland fan in any sport over the past 40 years, you may feel entitled to divine help.  Some people feel the Chicago Cubs are equally entitled but that's for another time.  If you keep an eye out for the rest of the baseball playoffs and World Series, there just might be six more plagues to come!  Fair warning in this fan's dream of deliverance.  No doubt, God has more important things for us to consider than a baseball game, but isn't it just fun to think about how much a sport like baseball can draw a community together?  If you want to see what happened in the time of Moses, read Exodus 7 thru 12.  If you want to see if the midges actually made a difference, watch for the Cleveland Indians in the remainder of the playoffs. 

Sent October 8 , 2007

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