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As we prepare for tonight’s All-Star Game at Globe Life Field in Arlington, it’s a good time to go a little deeper on how the game of baseball gives us something more to chew on than what happens on the diamond. Here’s a quote from the noted philosopher Jacques Barzun to open up the subject: “Whoever wants to know the heart and mind of America had better learn baseball.”
Support for Barzun’s conclusion can be found in two new books: The Last of His Kind: Clayton Kershaw and the Burden of Greatness by Andy McCullough, written with Kershaw’s cooperation, and A Grand Slam for God: A Journey from Baseball Star to Catholic Priest by Burke Masters.
Dallas resident Kershaw’s story is well known. He dreamed of being a big-league pitcher, became a Highland Park High School phenom as a teenager and was selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers as a top draft pick in 2006. He reached the major leagues in 2008, and since then he’s won the National League’s Cy Young Award three times, been named the league’s Most Valuable Player in 2014, made 10 All-Star teams and was a major contributor to the Dodgers winning the 2020 World Series. When he finally hangs up his glove, he should be a first-ballot inductee into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.
Besides being a great ballplayer, Kershaw has been a model citizen, philanthropist and person of deep faith, which caused him to receive the Roberto Clemente Award for exemplifying the best of “baseball, sportsmanship, community involvement and the individual’s contribution to his team.” His charity, Kershaw’s Challenge, has provided millions of dollars since 2011 to support needed community relief in Texas, California, Africa and the Caribbean.
Kershaw’s distinguished baseball résumé, however, has a glaring scar. His performance in 39 postseason games since 2008 has not matched his regular season performance. From April-September, throughout his career, Kershaw’s earned run average is 2.48, making him one of the most effective big-league hurlers in the 100 years. In October, though, his ERA has risen to 4.49, and his inability to hold scores down in key ball games contributed to shortened postseasons for the Dodgers in 2009, 2013, 2014, 2016-2019 and 2023.
McCullough’s book goes into detail on what the soul-crushing performances, as well as many debilitating injuries, have done to Kershaw’s psyche. Despite the emotional fallout, Kershaw has had the strength of character to keep his head up, be a good teammate, talk candidly to the media and do what it takes to stay energized about the game he loves.
Burke Masters’ baseball experience is less well known than Kershaw’s, but equally compelling. At age 12, he decided he wanted to be a big-league ballplayer, and for years, it seemed possible. As a star infielder at Providence Catholic High School in New Lenox, Ill., he was good enough to receive a scholarship to Mississippi State University, a perennial college powerhouse.
At MSU, Masters was a productive player and four-year starter. During his college summers, he played in the elite Cape Cod League and held his own with teammates and future MLB All-Stars Mo Vaughn and Chuck Knoblauch, and against opponents and future Hall of Famers Frank Thomas and Jeff Bagwell. In his senior year, he hit a dramatic postseason grand slam that helped propel the Bulldogs to the 1990 College World Series in Omaha.
Sadly, after his collegiate years ended, Masters’ baseball career ended in the low minors. As a devout Catholic, he wondered where God was at that low point in his life.
After floundering in the business world for a few years, he entered a Catholic seminary in 1997, became a priest in 2002 and became the chaplain of the Chicago Cubs beginning in 2013. He’s now the pastor of a parish in Hinsdale, Ill., and thrives as a spiritual leader as he once did on the playing field.
Kershaw’s and Masters’ life stories reveal how time spent playing and ruminating on baseball can tie into Barzun’s vision of what America’s “heart and mind” is all about. Both lives contain disappointments that men of lesser character might not have overcome. Each contains lessons about how to do so.
Kershaw and Masters have shown how the best in their field go about their business: living in the present, maximizing their talents, not allowing failures to define them, making changes when needed, building and maintaining loving relationships, elevating those in need and looking to God as the primary source for guiding thoughts, words and deeds.
How blessed we are to have our hearts and minds engaged in this great country with its national pastime which teaches such lessons. Now that we’ve considered the lessons of the game, let’s all enjoy tonight’s MLB All-Star Game.
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