Last week at my son’s baseball game, a memory stirred inside of me as I watched one of his teammates slide hard into second for a stolen base.
This boy was the leadoff hitter, the fastest on our team. That day we wore our powder blue uniforms with a logo resembling the St. Louis Cardinals, with this speed demon sporting the number 29 on his jersey.
After the game, the boy walked off the field to us parents, and I said, “Hey, great game, you looked like Vince Coleman out there today!” The youngster looked confused. I explained that Coleman was a former ballplayer known for his speed on the base paths, who wore #29 just like him.
His dad laughed and said, “Whiteyball! Those were some great Cardinal teams.” Another dad chimed in, telling the boy that Vince Coleman was one of the best base stealers of his era, stealing over 100 bags to win the 1985 Rookie of the Year.
The boy smiled and shook his head, wondering why we dads were so excited about an old player and his number.
Heroes by the Numbers
Growing up, it was a big deal for my friends and me when the coach handed out jerseys at the start of the season. We didn’t always get our first pick due to shirt sizes but hoped for a number associated with a great MLB player, like Ozzie Smith’s #1, George Brett’s #5, Cal Ripken’s #8, or Dwight Gooden’s #16.
Looking back, it was a simple way to connect with our favorite MLB stars. We couldn’t always buy the same bats, shoes, and batting gloves as the big leaguers, but we could wear their number.
But more than that, the baseball numbers were a shared language among us boys, a way for us to bond with each other.
Years later, I laughed as one of my boyhood friends, a Yankee fan, left his new phone number on my voicemail. He said something like, “Hey, give me a call, I’m at Yogi-Lou-Billy-Yogi-Mickey-Babe-Babe-Mickey-Mickey-Jeter.”
That fun message revealed how the memorized numbers had become more than baseball trivia — these numbers had remained woven into the fabric of our friendships.
The Hidden Power of What We Remember
In our digital age, when facts are just a search away, we’ve come to dismiss memorization as obsolete, a relic of the past.
With smartphones and AI assistants ready to recall information for us, why invest the time to memorize anything?
But this view misses something crucial. Critics argue that rote memorization without understanding is hollow, and that external tools free our minds for higher thinking. Yet memorization serves purposes that digital recall can’t replicate.
Along with creating a shared language among friends, committing information and wisdom to memory forms a filter through which we process the world.
It shapes our perceptions, influences our decisions, and creates a foundation for deeper understanding.
Life’s Playbook
Just as those baseball numbers created lasting connections among friends, other forms of memorized wisdom can shape entire lives and legacies.
Few embodied this truth more than legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden.
Learning from his father, Wooden memorized short maxims that he carried throughout his daily life, guiding his decisions.
Never lie. Never cheat. Never steal.
Don’t whine. Don’t complain. Don’t make excuses.
Be true to yourself.
Help others.
Pray for guidance and give thanks for your blessings every day.
Make each day your masterpiece.
Wooden didn’t memorize such phrases only to keep himself on the straight and narrow. This effort also gave him the uncanny ability to find just the right words when communicating a message to one of his players, whether about basketball or life.
For Wooden, memorized statements served as anchors. Players and students could recall them when facing adversity, stress, or moral choices.
Sacred Memory
John Wooden’s practice of memorizing and living by these maxims showed how stored wisdom could transform himself and those around him.
This truth found new meaning in my own life earlier this year. It was triggered by an article where the author challenged readers on how many Bible verses they could recite from memory.
Though I had read devotionals for years, I’d never made a habit out of memorizing verses.
This realization led me to Norman Vincent Peale’s collection of 40 favorite Bible verses, and I committed to memorizing one new verse each week while reviewing those already learned.
Halfway through the list after 20 weeks, the verses now flow smoothly from my tongue each morning. I never expected this simple habit to have such a powerful effect, to take my spiritual life to a higher level.
These verses have taken root in me, more than any devotional ever did.
I’m depending on the verses more and more for reinforcement throughout my day.
When I begin to drift off into a bad mood, I now recall Dr. Peale’s third verse and pray for God to “Renew a right spirit within me.” (Psalm 51:10).
Your Turn
What will you write on your heart? What wisdom deserves to become part of your daily thinking?
I challenge you to identify a piece of wisdom that speaks to your deepest values. It could be a quote, a Bible verse, or a common sense maxim.
Write it down. Recite it daily until it becomes embedded deep inside of you.
Whether it’s #29 on a powder blue jersey or Psalm 51 etched into a morning routine, what we write on our hearts becomes the story of our lives.
The choice of what to remember — and what to become — is yours.
—
This article is republished with permission from Midwest Sense.
Image Credit: Babe Ruth’s Farewell Jersey, (Flickr-Dan Gaken, CC BY 2.0)
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