Baseball and a Good Heart

Monday, December 11, 2017

*Name changed to protect passenger identity.

I’m a sucker for a good face. And boy did he have a good face!... But, I’m also cognizant and inclined to a good heart. And by the end of our drive together, the aspirational goodness of this man’s heart was abundantly clear.

When the app requested a pick-up for “*Donny”, I accepted and sped to Pentagon City Mall. Speeding was only in an attempt to beat the rush-hour traffic. Yet, when I arrived to the mall my approach was apprehensive. The great dilemma then was, would “Donny” be the older white gent in the suit and wing-tips, or the Latino millennial rocking the sweats and sneaks? Both appeared to be waiting in anticipation for a ride. Turns out, Donny was the latter of the two. And when he approached the car knowingly, I knew God was at work again. 

He opened the door. And in his cool, smoothly-balanced baritone said, “yeah, I’m Donny.” And as I do with all passengers, I excitedly welcomed him in. He said, “thanks.” And with the stroke of the app, we were off to, Regan National Airport?... I dutifully inquired with Donny if the location were correct, because other than the clothes he had on and the shopping bag from Zara, he didn’t bear what I perceived to be the necessities for travel. However, Donny confirmed the destination was correct and that he would be flying Delta.

With the window to discovery now cracked, I asked where he was headed and what brought him to Washington, DC. Well, it turns out he’d been in town for 24 hours for a physical and briefing with the MLB Washington Nationals, and he was headed back home to California... I don’t know much about baseball or sports in general. But, did I mention he had a good face?!

This is Donny’s second-life shot with the team. He came up through the Nats’ “farm system”, and--if memory serves--played at least one big league season before being sidelined by injury. When he spoke of the injury, I could sense how deeply crest-fallen he had been by the experience. I’m not certain the extent of his loss of livelihood by the injury. But it was clear, from the slight tremble in his voice, that he was at a complete loss of something he enjoyed more than making money. He spoke in hopeful terms about his current free-agency and the excitement of returning to Washington, DC. He spoke fondly of remembrances of the Nats’ arrival to Washington, DC and the euphoric spirit that blanketed the city upon the team’s arrival. He spoke as witness to the great change that has swept across the city and fuels this current renaissance of culture and enterprise. He spoke right into my spirit.

As we approached the airport, I bade my wishes for “safe travels.” He responded with thanks and unquestionable worry about returning home to where fires were close to decimating certain communities of Orange County. He thought he might be in the airport a long while, or caught mid-air circling his hometown and not able to land. I then bade him “traveling mercies” for here and there, all points in between, and especially the unseen/unknown places that God will send him. I am persuaded he was sent to be a bright light in my day.

Washington, DC I vote we take Donny. I vote we accept his aspirational greatness and give it a platform. I vote we let him tell his story to our children, friends and neighbors, so they might be as inspired as I was in the time he was present as my passenger… Go Nats!