Baseball as a game of miracles

(CBS News) The Secret Service may be dominating the "sporting" news, but let us not overlook a more reassuring sports development: Baseball season is off to another wonderful start.

To those who speak of golf as a religious experience, I say no - that's why we have baseball.

So I was delighted to read in The New York Times yesterday that not only have others seen the light, so to speak, but New York University is offering a for-credit course taught by NYU's President John Sexton called "Baseball as a Road to God."

Some criticize the game for being slow, but Dr. Sexton told the Times that its slowness allows us to notice the specialness of life - and even what may be beyond.

Well, of course it does.

To me, baseball's great lesson is how to deal with failure. In baseball as in life, even the best fail more often than they succeed. The .300 hitter fails to get a hit seven out of 10 times!

But baseball teaches that over the long season, if you put your daily losses aside, go back to the ball park the next day and play the game right, you'll win your share of games.

Baseball also produces its share of miracles. In case you hadn't noticed, the Washington Nationals are leading their division, and yesterday, Phil Humber of the Chicago White Sox pitched a perfect game - no one reached first base.

And the most amazing of all, last week 49-year-old Jamie Moyer of the Colorado Rockies became the oldest major league pitcher ever to win a ball game.

It is worth noting that, after each game, Moyer thanks the home plate umpire if he thinks he's done a good job calling balls and strikes.

Another lesson that goes beyond the ball park!