Customer Reviews

Sermon on the Mound: Finding God at the Heart of the Game

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Michael O'Connor has achieved something that rarely happens with christian humor books - he made me laugh! But to call this merely a christian humor book is to reduce the value of what I feel is a very important document. Michael has applied his laser wit and vision to his own life and the roles that God and baseball have played in making him the man he is today. Both have played a vital part in making him a better husband, a better father and a better man. His insight into his own weakness, which he quite painfully exposes to the healing touch of God, leave him stronger than even he can even fathom. A powerful book that will help anyone searching for God in the everyday world.

Curiosity made me purchase this book -- the author grew up in my neighborhood and we attended the same high school. But I was pretty sure I was going to have a hard time connecting with the book because my feelings towards baseball have got to be the antithesis of O'Connor's! I figured that it would appeal to me as much as needlework to a football jock.

What a pleasant surprise "Sermon on the Mound" turned out to be! Yeah, there's a lot of baseball in it, but what touched me the most were the honest reminiscences of the feelings of a boy growing up and of a young man being shaped by the vicissitudes of life. And there's a wonderful love story within for those of us who don't know a designated hitter from a designated driver. But what I enjoyed the most is the picture of God's love Michael paints for us -- could it really be that He is "rooting for everyone and sitting with us at a game in the next seat, leaning back, laughing and cheering"? Baseball is merely Michael O'Connor's pretext for sharing his heart, which he does generously with us throughout the book.

I thoroughly enjoyed "Sermon on the Mound" and heartily recommend it!

It is hard to imagine a more genuine, boy-next-door, pleasant delivery than O'Connor provides in this heartfelt story of so much more than just a passion for baseball. Though, the baseball memories are bound to tug at the heart of any of us boys who grew up struggling to become the next Mickey Mantle and playing baseball board games as youths when we weren't out on the sandlot. Just as I enjoyed Steve Alford's tales of basketball in his youth in a book I read a few years ago, these stories of youth baseball really brought the memories flooding back. But the stories don't end with baseball. Mr. O'Connor opens up to us the story of meeting and making it work out with his wife. And then there is the connection between baseball and God. He says, "In terms of eternity, I had been risking much sitting up on that fence for so long," and concludes that like the 7th game of the series, eventually we have to choose.

If you are like me, you have both played and watched a lot of baseball and softball. During those many hours a lot of unexpected things probably happened that have made a lasting impression. But what spiritual lessons did you take away? In my case, I was left with more spiritual questions than answers. Sermon on the Mound provided me with the opportunity to re-examine 50 years of experiences in light of my faith, and to reassess what happened with the benefit of my current perspective. Thinking about those experiences was both a pleasant and insightful experience. I am grateful to Mr. O?Connor for opening those spiritual doors for me.

What impressed me most was that what I had felt was pretty specific to me must be pretty close to universal for people who have been involved with baseball. Here are some examples: glove disappointment and envy (that first glove wasn?t really what you needed for youth baseball); playing positions where you couldn?t do too much damage to the team with your deficiencies as a player; sitting on the bench a lot; getting on the wrong side of an adult coach; finding softball as an adult to be a good indication of your out-of-condition status; being disappointed when a childhood hero died or was tainted by scandal; and wondering what it all meant when the Red Sox lost the six game of the World Series in 1986. Realizing those common elements gave me a whole new repertoire of things to ask about when I meet new people who played baseball or are baseball fans.

The book is heart-warming and loving when it comes to baseball. What more can I say about that aspect of the book?

The book?s title made me think that the book would be organized around the more famous Sermon on the Mount. It isn?t. Instead, Mr. O?Connor describes the religious lessons he has drawn from his baseball experiences, which have been pretty substantial in terms of his own life. For example, he found Christ from the Red Sox loss. These are arranged like a baseball game in a spiritual autobiography.

It is good for people to witness their spiritual experiences and beliefs. I get the most good from such witnessing when it connects to as many religious teachings as possible. To do that, I am helped by Scripture, prayers, and guides for applying the lessons to my own day-to-day life. Sermon on the Mound is unexpectedly light in those respects. I was disappointed. Many of my questions about how God connects to us during our baseball experiences are unanswered. I was, however, encouraged by having read the book to want to readdress those questions, in hopes of developing better answers than I have in the past. I have felt God?s presence in ballparks during my life. Now, all I have to do is find out more about how to understand what He is teaching and telling me.

I look forward to attending a baseball game next season, and spending time with my most important questions while the action on the field progresses. Thank you, Mr. O?Connor, for giving me that inspiration!

This book will be most appealing to lifelong baseball fans who are middle-aged and are interested in the spiritual life of Christianity. Long-suffering spouses and family members who are not so connected to baseball may find the book to be a helpful bridge to understanding the spiritual awakening that people can have through baseball.

As a long-time Dodger fan, I was also very glad to see what the world looked like for many of those years to Giants fans looking on from the stands in Candlestick Park. I was touched to realize that Mr. O?Connor had held respect and affection for Don Drysdale, and was affected by his untimely passing.

Where else can you find God at work . . . or sending you messages?

Michael O'Connor has hit a grand slam home run with this thought provoking and heartwarming book about the Spiritual connection between baseball and God, our Creator. Whether you love baseball as I do, or not, doesn't matter. The stories he shares will tug at your heart strings because they involve the relationships between parents and children, husbands and wives, and those people that move in and out of our lives. Michael successfully uses baseball as a way of illustrating the kind of love and relationship that God wants to have with each of us through His Son, Jesus Christ. The book is written in such a way that as you read it you will see a movie such as "The Sandlot" or a TV show like "The Wonder Years" play out in your head. You will hear the narrator retelling his life stories; both successes and failures. The book is divided into innings instead of chapters. One of which is entilted "No Crying In Baseball"; which is a line of dialogue taken from the movie "A League Of Their Own". By using an event that happened to him as a child during a game, as well as actual events that have occurred at the major league level, Michael shows us the emotional side of baseball. This book will bring out your emotions as well. It will make you laugh, cry and cause you to reflect on your life and your purpose for being here. It is a must-read, honest to God.

Sermon on the Mound beautifully articulates Michael O'Connor's passion for baseball and how God used that passion to draw Michael to him in a way that he could comprehend.

Every man that played little league baseball as a boy and every parent who watched their son play will surely rejoice and agonize as Michael describes his victories and defeats.

This book brings out the very best in all of us!

This author displays honesty, humor and heart. Yes, serious Christians can laugh. For example: "Mom wouldn't have known Jackie Robinson from Jackie Gleason. All she knew was that her son was in love with a game that only loved him back a little." Baseball fans will respect O'Connor's love of the sport. Christians will cheer for his upbeat witnessing. This literary Rookie of the Year connects religion and the game with an all-star effort.

Love, love, love this book! If you are a baseball fan, and someone who is passionate about Jesus Christ, you'll have fun reading O'Connor's work.

Michael O'Conner has the rare talent of warming the heart while at the same time touching the funny bone. He writes with depth and insight, bringing the seemingly unlikely subjects of God, love, spirituality and baseball together. His story is wonderful and I would highly recommend it to anyone.

This is far richer and deeper than anything you typically find in the sports section of the book store. Yes, it is about baseball. But it is really a book about the deepest questions of life -- of love, and meaning, and our Creator. O'Conner writes with the disciplined grace of a poet -- but a poet who is spilling a Coke and yelling "SLIDE" at the guy heading for third base. He'll leave you whispering, "Thank God for baseball." And if you listen closely, you'll hear Someone whisper, "You're welcome."