"It's a Lousy Night to be an Atheist"

Got this in an  email this morning...from Third coast Sports Inc.

"It's a Lousy Night to be an
Atheist"

 

Last night Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton lived out an actual dream,
a scene that undoubtedly earned a standing applause in Heaven and simultaneously shook the gates of hell.

 

In
the winter of 2006 Josh had a dream – the kind Joseph of the Bible
had. Keep in mind at the time of his dream Josh was still banned from
Major League Baseball because of drug abuse and had no knowledge of
which team
would be hosting the 2008 All-Star festivities and Home Run Derby.

 

Josh dreamed that he was taking part in a Home Run Derby, in Yankee
Stadium.

 

"I
was at the plate, I saw all the guys sitting around and
then I was at the plate walking toward them and actually a lady came up
and interviewed me," Josh said. "I was able to show everybody how I was
there,
why I was there and that was because of God's grace."

 

All of that happened last night – and a lot more.

 

“It’s a lousy night to be an atheist,” said famous
sports journalist Rick Reilly during the broadcast of the Home Run Derby on ESPN.

 

Josh
Hamilton indeed participated in the Home Run Derby at Yankee Stadium
– the last one that will ever be held there as the Yankees will move
into a new stadium next year. He hit 28 home runs in the first round
– 28! He hit home runs on 13 consecutive, 16-of-17, 20-of-22 and
22-of-25 swings. The next closest competitor hit eight in the first
round.
Josh’s home runs weren’t cheap either. They were the upper-deck,
500-foot monster variety that traveled a combined two-and-a-half miles.

 

At the conclusion of the Home Run Derby, Erin Andrews, a
female reporter for ESPN, pulled Josh aside for an interview.

 

"It's amazing in the past few years what God has done in my
life and how quickly he has done it," Josh told Andrews. ““I just really want to thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for
all of this. I just want to glorify him.”

 

“In
my dream I didn’t know how many home runs I hit or if I
won or anything like that and you know why, it’s because God don’t care
about all that stuff,” said Josh as he spoke with former
Seattle Mariners All-Star second baseman Harold Reynolds. “All he cares
about is me being here. In my dream I got to share Christ with people
and tonight that’s exactly what I did.”

 

Josh’s story is a blockbuster movie waiting to happen. If
you’ve seen The Natural, Josh is a real life Roy Hobbs.
Drafted #1 overall in 1999 by the Tampa Bay Rays, Josh got a $4
million signing bonus and was labeled a can’t-miss prospect. He started
hanging around a tattoo parlor in Bradenton, Florida and everything
went downhill from there. His life centered on alcohol and cocaine. In
2004 he was banished from baseball. Here’s a couple of links that do a
pretty good job of telling his story:

 

Sports Illustrated Cover
Story from June 2008

ESPN.com - Hope is Never Lost