Michael O'Connor Reviews

Added March 29, 2005

Sermon on the Mound

Finding God at the Heart of the Game

Author: Michael O' Connor
Publisher: Bethany House
Available At: Bookstores Everywhere
Publishing Date: March 1, 2005
Genre: Nonfiction: Religion/Christianity/Sports
Format: Trade Paperback
Price: $12.99
ISBN: 0-7642-2913-3
Reviewer: Phillip Tomasso III

I like to think this review comes just in time for the 2005 baseball season opener! It's all about timing and delivery. And Michael O'Connor has accomplished both. His book, Sermon on the Mound, is a profound testimony. The targeted audience is clearly for fans of baseball. Which is a fine, large audience, no doubt.

Did you ever start reading a book and know right away that you were going to like it. There was something about the way the author wrote that just connected with the way you liked to read? This is the feeling that overcame me as I began reading O'Connor's book. I just knew the book would be more than just enjoyable, but also insightful and smart. And, being the good judge of character that I claim to be, I was right.

Sermon on the Mound is a book about baseball, yes. It is a book about God, that's true. But it is so much more than that. Sermon on the Mound is the story of one man's search for salvation. This book is the lifework of author Michael O'Connor. A good author is an honest one. O'Connor could not have written this book if he had not been honest with himself, with his wife, with his father, or with God. He had to be honest to all of them in order to share the testimony he shared. And I thank him for it.

The book is hysterical, laugh-out-loud funny. Basically, O'Connor started playing baseball at about the age of eight. He did not know much about the game at that time. Nor did he understand the love he was about to fall into because of the game. I expected to learn that O'Connor was a natural. What I did not expect was to learn that he was only a marginal player at best. Like life, O'Connor had been blessed with some awesome coaches, and cursed with some awful ones, as well.

Normally when I review, I do not incorporate passages, but I see no other way to illustrate or quantify my statement of how funny this book reads. Let me set the stage. O'Connor is thinking about stealing a base. There are two outs. He knows he is one of the slowest players on the team. Take a look at how he describes the attempted steal:

"To my discredit and lasting embarrassment, I tried a last-minute trick slide, which led me to dance out of the base path and into shallow center field where, from my opponent's flank, I then threw my body at the base in a final desperate, twisted flailing lunge that could very well have inspired spectators to throw a telethon on my behalf."

Growing up without God in his life, O'Connor dedicated his life to the game. He knew (knows) about the players, their stats and the team records. He writes, "Once we became acquainted, baseball gave me purpose and direction." Regardless, he was searching for more. He adds, "I had been looking for redemption through an oversized scrap of leather that betrayed me at every turn." He knew he was lost without - something. It would be decades before he truly understood that life was about more than baseball. It would be some time before he realized God was that something he was missing:

"You may have the ball within your glove-you may have the runner within your sights-you may even have the fame within your reach-but I (GOD) am ever in control."

Not an easy lesson for any of us to learn at any age. But O'Connor writes:

"The game belongs to God-and so do we."

Like I said, the story starts with O'Connor as a boy, learning to play and to love the game. As O'Connor gets older he knows he will never become a pro ball player. Instead he savors his seat among spectators. Surround by millions, he realizes how alone he really feels. He realizes how lonely his life has truly become. What helps him realize this is Sally. I guess you can't know something is wrong until you see the something 'right' you don't have.

As the two date and fall in love, the next logical step is marriage. The problem that is like a brick wall in front of them is Sally's commitment to Christ. As much as she loves O'Connor, she cannot consider marrying him unless he considers Christ. Imagine that kind of love and trust in our Lord. Powerful.

And of course, to get what he wants, O'Connor immediately is saved, asking Jesus Christ into his life as his personal Savior, right? Wrong. Almost selfishly-but more out of fear, I think-O'Connor is trapped within himself, struggling to figure out the meaning of it all, his purpose and place, and where he's placed on life's roster.

Nothing makes sense for O'Connor at this point in his life until during the 1986 World Series-the once-cursed Boston Red Sox (this book was written originally before the Red Sox broke the curse) verse the New York Mets-that he realizes God has been with him, and trying to speak to him through baseball all these years.

What happens next-read the book.

"Michael O'Connor's Sermon on the Mound was a quick, and enjoyable read. I loved his testimony. I loved the baseball images from Little League, the baseball recounts, and the stories of fallen heroes and of fathers. I loved the story of he and Sally and God, and the fact that the author is now working to round all the bases together with Jesus. Uplifting and heartwarming, Sermon on the Mound is the perfect read (or would make the perfect gift) for any baseball fan-for those who already know Christ, and for those still searching for the meaning of it all. Sermon on the Mound is an out of the park homerun!"

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