Baseball spring training is underway and schedules for the season are set. As players prepare for the new season, the LA Times recently ran a story that illustrates how unexpected events can change our perspective on life:
Last year was supposed to go differently for Dodgers pitcher Dustin May.
Out since the middle of 2023 following a flexor tendon and Tommy John revision surgery, the hard-throwing right-hander was on track to return to action before the end of the season. By early July he was just a week away from a minor-league rehab stint, and a mere month or so from potentially rejoining the roster…. Even more encouraging was that as May neared the end of his recovery from his second major surgery… he finally was feeling like his old self, hopeful of returning to the shorthanded starting rotation and playing a key late-season role in the Dodgers’ push for a World Series title….’I was pretty close,’ May said.
Then, over the course of one frightening evening, everything changed.
On the night of July 10, while he still was rehabbing at the Dodgers’ Camelback Ranch facility in Arizona, May went to dinner and ordered a salad. After one bite, he felt lettuce stuck in his throat. Trying to wash it down, he took a quick swig of water.
Moments later he could tell something was wrong…In what May described as a “complete freak accident,” he unknowingly suffered a serious tear in his esophagus — one that required emergency surgery that night, dashed any hopes of him returning before the end of the season and left him with a new perspective on not only baseball but also the fragility of life…
“It was definitely a life-altering event,” May said Friday, recounting the ordeal for the first time publicly. “It was definitely very serious. It’s not a very common surgery. It was definitely an emergency. “So much so, he added, “I probably wouldn’t have made it through the night if I didn’t have it…”
“It was extremely frustrating,” May said. “You can’t plan for it. You can’t try to prevent it. It just happened.” With a shake of his head, he continued: “It wasn’t on my bingo card for 2024…”[i]
We’ll come back to Dustin’s experience, but first a few thoughts about bingo.
Bingo emerged as “lotto” in Italy 1539. By the 1940s, it had become standardized in the U.S. I remember playing it in school and at home. It’s a popular game in church halls, Elks clubs and nursing homes.
The game itself is simple. Everyone receives a card with a grid of 25 spaces. There is a “free space” in the center and random numbers assigned to the other 24. A designated person draws a number and announces it. Anyone who has that number puts a marker (a bean in the early days) on the spot. If you get five occupied squares in a row, you announce “Bingo!” and receive a prize – cash, a toaster, or simply the personal thrill of victory.
Unlike poker, blackjack, bridge, Monopoly, and other games which involve strategy and choices, what happens in bingo is completely random. Maybe that’s why the phrase made sense to Dustin May. One moment he had a clear roadmap for his career and life. In the next, a bite of salad changed everything.
For centuries, human beings have wondered: Why do events like this happen to us? Is it fate? Or chance? Or some combination?
Romans believed in the goddess Fortuna. She was blind. Without rhyme or reason, she created events that could make or break someone’s life. By the Middle Ages, the belief evolved into an all-powerful “Wheel of Fortune” that turned and turned, rewarding some and damaging others.
In the east, a strong belief in karma arose – everyone’s situation in life must be shaped by the actions of our ancestors.
Jesus taught that “the rain falls on the good and evil alike,” discouraging anyone from attributing someone’s condition in life to divine direction.
We can’t change the family we came from. We can’t change our DNA or many of our physical aspects. We can’t control what cultural realities are shaping our environment. But we can do our best to navigate it all. Some events will occur to us that may seem like strokes of “good fortune” and some that will seem totally unfair.
I can imagine bingo cards that include two new squares: one labeled “U.B.” for “Unexpected Blessing” and the other labeled “U.C.” for “Unexpected Challenge.” Every day we need to be prepared for one or the other to be called. We don’t want to live in fear of the unexpected challenges we may face – but we do want to be mentally and spiritually ready when they come.
“It just kind of gives me a different viewpoint on a lot of things in life,” May said, still striking a tone of disbelief. “Just seeing how something so non-baseball-related can just be like — it can be gone in a second. And the stuff it put my wife through, it definitely gave me [a feeling] of, ‘Wow, stuff can change like that.’ It was definitely very scary.”
Next week we are taking the grandkids to Arizona for spring training. If I see Dustin May, I will know how much it means to him to be present. He’s a great ballplayer and now has a personal story for us all to remember.
[i] “One bite of salad derailed Dustin May’s return to Dodgers. He’s thankful to be back.“
Note: When I worked at Hospcie of Santa Barbara, we developed a list of six statements we can use to let others know what they mean to us — not just at a bedside but in the midst of daily life. Here’s the post: “Six Things That Matter Most”
Steve Jacobsen, Ed.D 