God does not take sides in baseball; nor does He or She pick favorites in football, basketball, hockey, tennis, or tiddlywinks. The good Lord, in fact, remains carefully neutral in all competitive games.

That does not stop us from praying for His or Her intercession during moments of high anxiety in big games. The higher the stakes, the more fervent the prayers. Yet we all – or most of us, anyway - understand that those prayers stand a much better chance of being heard if the guy we’re praying for can hit a curveball.