Every Professional Athlete

EVERY PROFESSIONAL ATHLETE wants to be remembered in history. In 1998, David Wells made a little history by joining the ranks of only 13 others who had achieved perfection on the mound during the 20th century.

The New York Yankees engaged the Minnesota Twins on a Sunday afternoon at legendary Yankee Stadium. Wells, three days shy of his 35th birthday, drew the starting assignment.

Wells never showed his age or slowed down as the game wore on. With an array of fastballs, changeups, and cutters, he kept every Twins batter off balance. In the seventh, the pitcher went to a 3-2 count on Brent Gates but enticed the second baseman to bounce out to first base. The next hitter, Paul Molitor, worked the count to 3-1 but took a fastball on the corner for a strike. He went down swinging on the next pitch to end the inning.

With 49,820 partisans standing on their feet and holding their breath in the ninth, Wells retired Jon Shave on a fly ball to shallow right for the 25th consecutive out. Javier Valentin struck out swinging, and Pat Meares lofted a short fly ball down the right-field line that Paul O’Neill squeezed for the final out in a 4–0 Yankee triumph. In pitching his perfect masterpiece, Wells threw 120 pitches with 79 counting as strikes.

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POINT David Wells and his family cherish that May day. His teammates loved being part of David’s perfect game. They’ll likely talk about it all through their lives. Each one played his role and helped make Wells’ special moment possible.

In life, we value memories of athletic accomplishments, team victories, and shared defeats that bond us closer together. We treasure holidays with family, times with friends, and moments with someone special.

King David encouraged God’s people to remember the Lord. God showed his power many times to the Israelites in history-making ways.

GOAL! What are some memories that you cherish? Write a few of them down.