“The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and pay the penalty.” — Proverbs 22:3
Watch the Bunt!
I was umpiring a 9-year-old baseball game this week when I got tickled at the team out in the field on defense. The team in the field was up 7-6 late in the game, and there was a runner on first base, no outs. The pitch was delivered, and suddenly the batter squares around to bunt. It clearly takes the defensive team off guard, as kids begin to scramble. The runner from first takes off for second, and the ball hits the bat and shoots foul to the left of the third-base line. “Foul ball!”
As the batter made his way back into the box, a chorus of pre-adolescent voices called out from across the diamond, “Watch the bunt!” I chuckled, as an expression of amusement came across my face.
You see, the realization that someone may bunt came too late. Fortunately for the team in the field, the bunt went foul on the previous play. The element of surprise was spoiled.
If we’re honest, we all have suffered pain, humiliation or setbacks by failing to prepare in advance for something that was ahead of us. We’re not ready for the bunt until after we’ve been taken off guard. We have given and received good advice too late.
I absolutely love the book of Proverbs. Primarily written by King Solomon, who was the wisest human being of his time, it’s chock full of timeless truths for prudent, sensible and shrewd action in the face of what life throws at us. Consider the Message version of Proverbs 22:3:
A prudent person sees trouble coming and ducks; a simpleton walks in blindly and is clobbered.
That’s as plainly stated as it can be! Yet, many of us are the simpletons! We get clobbered because we don’t have our eyes open or our wits about us.
Today, let this be your warning of what’s to come. Let this be good advice that’s not too late, whether you’re on a baseball field or not. Don’t just “watch the bunt.” Expect it.
— C.A. Phillips – NorthStar Church, Kennesaw, Ga.
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Ask any athlete who has achieved anything noteworthy in their sport and pretty much every one of them will tell you that patience is a vital trait to success. One can’t really get anywhere close to accomplishing their goals or winning titles if they aren’t willing to let the process play out and bide their time until the right things align for them to step through that door of opportunity. The key is being ready and prepared for that moment, but all would agree that things like that can’t be rushed or forced. They must fall into place as they’re meant to, and one has to be willing to wait for the proper time to make their move.
Rafael Nadal, a 22-time Grand Slam champion, spoke of this once in an interview when he was describing his strategy for playing other tennis greats back in the day. He said patience was it.
“If I have to wait for the rally to stretch to 10 shots or 12 or 15 to bide my chance to hit a winner, I’ll wait,” he said. “There are moments when you have a chance to go for a winning drive, but you have a 70% chance of succeeding; you wait five shots more, and your odds will have improved to 85%. So be alert, be patient, don’t be rash.”
Nadal understood that there was wisdom in knowing the right moment to make a move — too soon or too late would be a mistake.
The Bible also talks a lot about the value of patience, especially as it pertains to being on God’s timing and not our own. God always has perfect timing because He knows the exact point when circumstances and people will be ready for certain things to happen. We’re the ones who play the guessing game. All we have to go on is what’s happened before and everything about our future is pure projection. We try to run out scenarios and take a stab at what we think will occur, and make our moves based on certain hopes, aspirations and dreams. But we know little to nothing about what will actually take place. That’s why it’s often easy to worry about stuff — because our brains are trying to jump ahead and determine if the future is dependable, safe and good. We’re trying to prepare ourselves for what is to come.
This is why you hear so often in Scripture things like, “Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord” (Psalm 27:14); or, “but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength” (Isaiah 40:31a, ESV); or, “The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord” (Lamentations 3:25-26, ESV).
Because there truly is, indeed, “a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens” (Ecclesiastes 3:1). And only God Himself knows what that is. That’s why it matters that we not get ahead or behind Him and we seek discernment through the Holy Spirit as to what that perfect time is, so we do not miss it when it arrives.
When I started coaching as a career, I had no idea where the Lord would use me or send me. To be quite honest, I don’t remember ever asking Him to be a part of the process. Well, I would shoot up a tidbit of a prayer knowing I would be the one doing the coaching.
I was so young — 21 years old — thinking I was going to set the sports world on fire with my expertise in coaching with absolutely no coaching experience. I was fortunate to play sports at the NAIA level — I was good, and so were about a zillion other athletes, but I was not great. Why I thought I would be an excellent coach after playing sports for four years in college had to come from the arrogance and pride that takes so many of us down to reality. I was just another drop of water in the vast ocean of coaches.
I wish I knew then what I know now. Wow, what a difference I could have made for Jesus. Now 52 years later, I am still coaching, but not what you think — I am now coaching people. I am now the athletics chaplain of a Christian high school. The Lord has taught me so much through my career. It was never about me and what I could accomplish; it was about Him and what He could accomplish. Thank the Lord I learned this several years ago. The Lord changed my plans to His plans, and I am so thankful He did.
The old is gone and the new is here! As a chaplain, I now go from one season to the next with different coaches and different teams. Every morning is fresh and new, and I look for ways to share Christ with students, coaches, teachers, administrators and parents … and yes, even with referees.
I pray that all of you reading this today will take yourself out of the picture and place Jesus front and center. Stay in God’s Word, talk to Him every day through conversation and prayer, and expect Him to do great things. God placed you right where you are for a reason, so let Him use you for His reasons, season after season after season.
Coach RAC speaks at a Sandlot Revival night in Cincinnati, Ohio, June 18, 2026. (Photo courtesy of SandlotRevival.org)
The inaugural Banana Bowl championship wrapped up on Saturday, the culminating matchup for the 2026 Banana Ball Championship League. The Savannah Bananas — whose fans-first, entertaining style of play spawned its own league — were in the game, but lost to the Texas Tailgaters, 2-1, in front of 41,000 people at Nationals Park, home of the MLB’s Washington Nationals.
That fact — that the league’s flagship team didn’t win the championship — is the biggest differentiator between this baseball phenomenon and the Harlem Globetrotters, the longtime basketball entertainers so many critics compare the Bananas to. Globetrotters games are scripted for Harlem to win; Bananas games are not scripted — aside from the singing and dancing — and feature actual competition.
And Banana Ball is continuing its rise. The Bananas first began this style of play by playing against the Party Animals in 2023, then the Firefighters joined Banana Ball in 2024, followed by the Tailgaters in 2025. This year, the Loco Beach Coconuts and Indianapolis Clowns joined the league.
The largest crowd in Banana Ball history — 102,000 — took place May 2 at Kyle Field, the football stadium on the campus of Texas A&M. And just a couple weeks later they played in front of 101,000 at Neyland Stadium, home of Tennessee football. Banana Ball games were also played this year in NFL stadiums and the most iconic MLB venues. In all, the Bananas visited 21 cities — including their home in Savannah, Georgia — and all six teams played 64 games apiece in 2026. The league will announce its 2027 cities on Thursday.
21 cities. 64 games. Infinite memories. What. A. Season. 💛
To every one of you that showed up, sang along, danced with us, and made us feel so at home in cities across the country, thank you. You're the reason we get to do what we love and you made this season one we'll never… pic.twitter.com/MflZ2Dt09C
But what’s happening on the field isn’t as eternally significant as what’s taking place off the field. While the massive popularity of the Bananas and their competitors is bringing newfound fame to many of the players, a large number of those guys are using their platforms to glorify God.
As the teams toured through the U.S. in the summer of 2024, a group of Christ-followers began meeting for weekly Bible study. What started with five or six guys sitting in a coffee shop grew to 40 or 50 people meeting in someone’s house. Then God planted the idea of public worship nights outside Grayson Stadium in Savannah, so, led by left fielder RobertAnthony Cruz, they held three nights of worship open to anyone.
That left Cruz — better known as Coach RAC — with a desire to take the worship nights on the road. So this summer, he and a college friend, Mehki Key, launched Sandlot Revival. It’s not affiliated with the Bananas, but is driven by Cruz and some teammates.
“Last year, I feel like God put it on some of our hearts to start hosting public worship nights in addition to our team Bible study that we do behind the scenes,” RAC told Sports Spectrum during the team’s stop in Denver in August. “So we had two worship nights during the summer last year, and then we ended up having one in the fall.
“And this year, God just opened some doors, and a friend of mine, Mehki, he organized these worship nights all over the country in a bunch of different cities. So pretty much every city we go to, we’ll play either Friday, Saturday, Sunday, but the night before we’ll have a worship night partnering with a local church in that city.”
At each stop, Key joins with the church’s band to lead attendees in a time of worship and praise, and then one of the players shares his testimony. Often it’s one of the Bananas players, but guys from other teams share as well.
“I was kind of nervous because it’s the first time I’ve ever shared my testimony,” said Ty Jackson, one of RAC’s longtime teammates. “But [RAC] was like, ‘You know what, just let God speak through you, and it’s your testimony, however the Lord has impacted you.’ And it was such a blessing. It’s the first time I ever did it and it’s hard to talk about. You know, everybody’s testimony is different, and my testimony was very emotional. But at the end of the day, people in the crowd were going through the same things I went through and it brought a smile to my face that they could come talk to me about it. It was truly a blessing.”
Following the testimony, Coach RAC takes the stage to share a message and present the Gospel. While playing baseball at Biola University — a Christian school in La Mirada, California — he was a Christian ministries major with a Biblical studies minor. He had a short stint in rookie ball with the Washington Nationals after college, but is now Banana Ball’s de facto chaplain.
“When I was really little I thought I wanted to be a pastor, when I was 5 years old, but didn’t really think much about it after that,” RAC told Sports Spectrum. “… I don’t think it’s my desire to really necessarily be a pastor of a church. We’ll see what God has planned, but in the meantime though, to be able to articulate the Gospel to the best of my ability every week has been a blessing.”
Following RAC’s sermon, the audience is offered a chance to come up for prayer. Along with some church staff, any players in attendance stand in front of the stage and pray over anyone who asks.
“The prayer time from players is awesome,” said Easton Parrish, who’s in his first year with the Bananas. “I get to see a lot people truly become emotional because of whatever they’re going through, whatever prayer they might receive. It’s been fruitful for me. When we first started doing that, I did not go out and pray over other people because I didn’t feel like I could; I didn’t feel like I was a very good prayer guy. But I’ve probably gotten more out of praying for others than they’ve gotten from me praying over them.”
Also in his first year on the team is JT Sokolove, who at 23 is the youngest on the team. He was asked to share his testimony twice at a Sandlot Revival, and has been inspired by hearing his teammates or opponents share their stories as well. Since the teams most often play or travel on Sundays, he said the worship nights have been like church services for him and the other players.
“Seeing city to city, thousands of people come together to praise the Lord — that’s our church because most of the time we’re playing on Sundays,” Sokolove told Sports Spectrum. “So being there and getting to go to our church service basically, and just feel the presence of God … alongside your brothers, it’s just special.”
Meanwhile, the Bible study that started this movement is still ongoing. Some players meet with just their own teams, some gather with other teams when they’re on the road together, and the groups can get rather large if all the teams are in Savannah together.
The players are having tons of fun and living a dream in many ways, but just like any believer knows, trials and tribulations still come in this life. So this band of Bananas keeps meeting to hold each other accountable and stay grounded on God’s Word.
“During the year, everyone is going through highs and lows at different times,” RAC said. “So to be able to meet consistently every week and center ourselves and remind ourselves God is on the throne and we are not the ones on the throne, that’s needed for all of us.”
Jalen Hurts and Tua Tagovailoa are both NFL quarterbacks these days, but years ago, they were teammates at Alabama. It was Hurts who led the Crimson Tide to the national title game against Georgia in January 2018, yet after a difficult first half, he was benched in favor of Tagovailoa.
Tagovailoa sparked a spectacular comeback and overtime victory, and he suddenly became the media’s darling. Hurts, meanwhile, was nothing but supportive. He was famously one of the first teammates to embrace Tagovailoa after his iconic game-winning touchdown pass.
Hurts’ support continued next season, even when Tagovailoa won the starting job over him. Hurts accepted his reduced role, helped Tagovailoa however he could, and told reporters that “my job is to be the best quarterback I can be, and that’s what I strive to do every day.”
When the 2018 SEC Championship Game rolled around, Alabama faced Georgia again, and this time, it was Hurts’ turn to shine. He stepped in to replace an injured Tagovailoa down by seven in the fourth quarter, engineered two consecutive touchdown drives, and Alabama won, 35-28. Hurts’ maturity and humility were widely lauded by sports pundits the next day, and for years to come.
Hurts’ story is a prime example of the apostle Peter’s exhortation, and God’s instruction, to a group of churches in 1 Peter. In the context of walking with humility toward all, Peter writes that God often exhibits a special kindness toward those who humbly accept the story He orchestrates in their lives. “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand,” Peter concludes, “that he may lift you up in due time” (1 Peter 5:6).
This in no way means that God “owes” humble people something. Rather, it simply means that humility is pleasing to God when we approach Him and others with a humble disposition. We shouldn’t be humble just to get something; that isn’t humility at all. However, the passage is a promise that our humility won’t go unnoticed.
Hurts was disappointed that he wasn’t getting to play at Alabama in 2018. Perhaps even frustrated. Yet he conducted himself with humility, and God smiled his direction in the SEC Championship Game.
Maybe you find yourself in a similar situation on the field, in the gym, or in your office at work. You’re frustrated. Embarrassed. Stuck. Let those feelings lead you deeper into humility with those around you. Obedience to God never guarantees changed circumstances, and things might even get worse. But, obedience to God is always the right answer.
What is guaranteed when you walk with humility is that you will please God. In His perfect timing and in His perfect ways, He will smile in your direction too.
