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The Shot of a Lifetime

  • September 15, 2026
  • Posted by: Carolyn Mahal
  • Category: Devotions
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And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. – Romans 8:28

Baseball is a game with a long and rich tradition. Over the past 125 years, there have been many incredible players and unforgettable moments that have captured the greatness of our “American pastime.” Unfortunately, many of those moments have been lost to history. The first several decades of major league baseball were played before video, television, or even radio existed. You can find some grainy clips of players swinging a bat or staticky soundbites of old radio broadcasts offering a glimpse of the players and the games. but they are little more than novelties. They simply don’t capture the drama of the moment. As the years passed and technology advanced, more games were broadcast, giving wider audiences the chance to witness the feats of all-time greats like Williams, Mantle, Aaron, Koufax, and Mays. People were no longer dependent on a radio announcer or sportswriter to tell them about incredible games. They could see them for themselves.

One such moment happened in the 1975 World Series between the Cincinnati Reds and the Boston Red Sox. The Reds had taken a three games to two lead in the best of seven series, making game six a must-win for Boston. To add to the drama, rain in Boston had delayed the game for three days, forcing the players to sit and wait and think about the game and its significance. Game 6 was a back-and-forth affair until the Red Sox finally tied the score at 6-6 in the bottom of the eighth. The game would go into extra innings still knotted up at 6. Finally, to lead off the home half of the twelfth inning, Red Sox catcher Carlton Fisk stepped up to the plate. On a 1-0 count, Fisk connected on a sinker thrown by Cincinnati’s Pat Darcy, launching the ball high and deep down the left field line. Players on the field, fans in the stands, and millions of TV viewers across the country watched and waited as the ball sailed into the October sky. It was obvious that the ball had the distance to be a home run. The question was this: would it sail foul, or would it be the shot of a lifetime?

Lou Gerard was one of thousands of people at Fenway Park that night. He was a camera operator for NBC. Positioned in the Green Monster – the iconic 37-foot-high wall in left field, Gerard’s job was simple: fix your camera on the hitter and if he makes contact, follow the ball. Unlike today where World Series games use over 40 cameras, NBC typically used 4 or 5 cameras to broadcast significant games in the 1970’s. Following the ball with every camera was crucial to their coverage, especially on a play where a few inches could determine the outcome of the game. So, as Fisk stepped to the plate with a possible date with destiny, Lou Gerard unknowingly would find himself in that same history-making position, albeit for a much different reason.

Sixty-three-year-old stadiums with large walls located in a big city can be inviting places for rodents. This wasn’t headline news to Gerard, but in a job where timing is crucial, Lou was taken aback as he witnessed a large rat approaching his position inside of the wall, just as Fisk was waiting for that 1-0 pitch. Distracted by his unwanted roommate, Gerard shooed the rat away with his foot before it got too close to him – a reasonable reaction under the circumstances. But in so doing, he momentarily stopped paying attention to the game. As he turned his attention back to the field, Lou was unable to track the ball that had just left Carlton’s bat. Instead of awkwardly searching for the ball with his camera, Gerard quickly decided to follow Fisk as he stepped out of the batter’s box and headed toward first base.

And he got the shot of a lifetime.

Gerard captured the image of the Boston catcher as he watched the flight of the ball. As he hopped down the first base line, Fisk desperately waved his arms as if he were trying to push the ball fair. It must have worked because the ball didn’t curl foul but caromed off the pole. In an instant, Fisk had a walk-off home run, the Red Sox had a 7-6 victory, and the game of baseball had a recording of one of the game’s most iconic moments of all-time. Fan response to Fisk’s celebration would become a catalyst for the media to use more cameras and to pay more attention to the players themselves. All this, thanks to a quick-thinking cameraman and a rat with impeccable timing.

Over the span of your lifetime, you will experience billions of moments. Moments of joy, agony, peace, stress, accomplishment, failure, excitement, despair, hope, boredom, satisfaction, anger, sorrow, delight, and more. All these emotions are a gift from God. On the surface, that seems wrong. God gifting us moments of sorrows, struggle, and strife. But, if you think about it, you will come to the realization that apart from sin, everything on earth has been given to us to experience by our Father in heaven. These moments create the stories that fill the chapters of our lives. We learn and grow from them. We use them to prepare us for what lies ahead. We harness them to teach others what God has shown us. And through all of it, we trust in the assurance God has given us that, “in all things, God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” God demonstrated this to Joseph and his brothers in Egypt by using his enslavement to ultimately save Jacob’s entire family from starvation. God demonstrated this by not only saving Daniel from the lions but changing the heart of King Darius through it. God demonstrated this by sending the Holy Spirit into the hearts of sinful men to build and grow his church. And God most certainly demonstrated this by gifting forgiveness and salvation to mankind through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

In every moment, may we remember God’s presence in it. Seek the will of the Lord through the word of God and in prayer. Trust the plan God has given you and know that He is with you through all of it and share that knowledge with everyone God brings into your life. His love for you is true, complete, and will bring you blessings, now and always.

 

Devotion by Richard Schumacher

Senior Director of Operations