David Benham - Miracle in Shreveport: A Memoir of Baseball, Fatherhood, and the Stadium That Launched a Dream

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CONTENTS

G od is always at work in our lives. Even when we cant see Him, Hes working in ways we may never know. But sometimes we get to see His fingerprints in our lifes story firsthand, and it marks us forever. From that day forward we walk with a newfound strength, armed with a testimony of Gods goodness, His faithfulness, and His sovereign hand to write our story into History.

John Piper once said, God is always doing 10,000 things in your life. And you may be aware of three of them. Weve found this to be true in our own lives. Maybe you have as well. We all have difficult and trying times when things seem to be going wrong and we cant catch a break. Its just the way of life on this side of eternity. And sometimes we question God or wonder if He really even cares at all.

Well, He cares. We know this because weve been there before. And weve watched Him work in ways we never imagined possible. Many of you know us from the time we got fired by HGTV, which was a tough time for us. Wed thought a new show with a major network was our chance to do something great for Godsomething that could influence our culture for good. Then the rubber met the road, and we refused to compromise our principles. Thats when we got the old heave-ho and lost the show.

Getting thrust into a media controversy was not exactly what we had in mind for our lives. But God was working behind the scenes, and we could trust Him because we had seen Him work on our behalf before. We drew strength from an earlier time where God stepped in, peeled back the curtain, and showed us His divine hand working in a way that blew our minds.

This is that story. Sometimes its even hard for us to believebut its true. We had seen God work in such a powerful way as young Little League baseball players with a dream of making it to the pros one day that regardless of what happened with HGTV, or anything else, we would not be shaken.

The story in this book has brought extraordinary strength to us through the years. We believe it will strengthen you as well. Chances are, youll see yourself in this story. At some point in your life, maybe youve wondered how God was going to work everything out for you as well. You may even be there right now. Though the details of your story will be different from ours, the fact is that God is the One faithfully writing your story into History.

So come with us as we take you back to a time in our lives when the most important thing in the world to us was the game of baseball.

The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army ofsteamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: its a part of our past, Ray. It remindsus of all that once was good and it could be again.

Terence Mann, Field of Dreams

I t was a warm, sunny Saturday afternoon in May 1984. The days of summer were closing in rapidly, and for two young boys the thought of no school for three solid months was exhilarating. We had just completed our morning choresI (Jason) had mopping and bathroom duty, and David ran the vacuum. (He always got the easy jobs.)

As we coordinated our teams for another epic Wiffle ball battle with the neighborhood kids, Dad interrupted us midargument.

Jason! David! Im taking you to see a movie today.

Movies were a big deal in the early 80ssome of the greatest flicks of all time came out of that memorable decade. Not to mention some of the most incredible fashion the world has ever seen. Oh, the fashion! We rocked Kaepa shoes, parachute pants, Members Only jackets, neon T-shirts, and Brian Bosworth hairdos. You just dont get any better than that.

So even though we loved playing Wiffle ball, we didnt argue with Dad in the least. We jumped in the car and headed to the Walnut Twin Theatrethe best-kept secret in Garland, Texas. It was the only dollar movie theater around, and since Dad earned a pastors salary, thats where we typically went.

He took us to see The Natural, a movie about a young boy, his dad, and a game that drew them together. It was a movie about baseball, the power of a dream, and the deep bond between a father and his son.

Little did we know the effect this movie would have on us, as it brought to life the very same relationship we had with our dad around the same game.

Roy Hobbs (played by Robert Redford) was a young farm boy with remarkable talent that was hard for his dad to miss. As the two of them played catch in the backyard, his dad said, Youve got a gift, Roy. But its not enough. Youve got to develop yourself. If you rely too much on your own gift, then youll fail.

That sounded just like our dad. He talked to us the exact same way when we were in our backyard playing catch. He could see we had talent, but he always reminded us that talent was never enough.

Roy and his dad shared a dream togetherthat one day he would make it to the big leagues and be the greatest player ever.

But before his dad could see this dream come true, he died of a heart attack, right under an old oak tree in front of their little farmhouse.

Now, we must admit, even though we were only nine, we both got choked up pretty good. Thats a tough pill for any young boy to swallow. (I think David may have scream-cried in the back row.)

Roy ended up making a bat out of the wood from that tree and went on to pursue his dreamalone. Yet the bond of baseball still drew him close to his father. Ultimately, after taking a few wrong turns along the way, Roy realized his boyhood dream and became one of the games greatest players. But he did it alone, without the man with whom he longed to share it.

The movie ended with Roy Hobbs, as an older man, playing catch with his son the same way he had with his father.

To say that movie affected us would be an understatement. We walked out of the theater that day with a newfound exuberance for the game of baseball and the hope of one day playing professionally with our dad watching from the stands.

Our dads love for the game of baseball ran deep. We grew up on his stories of all the Yankee greatsMickey Mantle, Moose Skowron, Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra, and all the legends. He also taught us that true Yankee fans dont like Roger Maris. Still cant quite figure that one out.

His love for baseball, and the Yankees in particular, came as the result of one fantastic day in his life when he was ten. His dadour grandpawas a saloon owner in Syracuse, New York. While our dad always believed Grampa to be a good father, our grandpa was also very busy with the saloon and had an affinity for gambling. So he and Dad didnt spend a lot of time together.

But the one thing that drew them together was a mutual love for the game of baseball.

Once, Grampa came home from the saloon in the wee hours of the morning during the school week and woke up our dad. He asked him, Whats the one thing you would like to do more than anything else in the whole world?

Although caught off guard, Dad responded, Go to a Yankees game!

Then thats exactly what were going to do, replied Grampa.

Little did Dad know that Grampa had previously made all the arrangementshe already had him excused from school, bought the plane tickets, booked a hotel, and bought game-day tickets to see the 1958 Yankees.