If you follow baseball, you know that the Colorado Rockies are having a dismal season. Their record as of last night is 29-80 (not a typo), and their season’s goal right now is to avoid setting a new Major League record for losses. As Jason Gay wrote in an article about the “pretty good” New York Yankees:

If you’re a Rockies fan, you can’t believe anyone can be spoiled like this. Actually, that’s not true—if you’re a Rockies fan, you’ve disavowed baseball and taken up knitting hats for the neighborhood squirrels. – Jason Gay, Wall Street Journal, July 31, 2025

But, as we used to say in the Air Force, “Even a blind hog finds an acorn sometimes,” and even the Rockies can inspire. Last night’s game against the Pittsburgh Pirates is a case in point.

Before the Rockies came to bat in the bottom of the first inning, they were already behind by nine runs. That’s right, 9-0 after the top half of the first inning. I turned the game on during the Rockies’ half of the fifth where they scored four runs bringing their deficit up from 15-6 to 15-10. When I turned the game off, it was 16-10.

But, as we were going to bed, I glanced at my phone, which gives me the running score of the game even while the phone is off, and I told June: “It’s 16-15 in the bottom of the ninth with only one out. The Rockies have a man on first. They can actually win this thing!” And they did. A minute later, the phone’s display changed:

Walk-off home run. The AP story posted on ESPN opens with:

DENVER — — Brenton Doyle hit a walk-off, two-run homer in a five-run ninth inning and the Colorado Rockies overcame a nine-run first-inning deficit to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 17-16 on Friday night.

You can’t make this stuff up…

I have a picture in my office of the great tightrope walker Nik Wallenda walking across Niagara Falls on a high wire. He signed it:

Bob, never give up.

One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up. (Luke 18.1, NLT)