English poet Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892) wrote: “Life is not as idle ore — But iron dug from central gloom — And heated hot with burning fears — And dipped in baths of hissing tears — And battered with the shocks of doom — To shape and use.”

This week, far from Tennyson’s Victorian England, major league baseball player Chris (“I-man”) Iannetta homered as a pinch-hitter in the bottom of the 11th inning to lift the Colorado Rockies to a victory over Milwaukee and move them closer to clinching a playoff berth in the National League. His home run surprised a lot of people, because the former starting catcher had been batting poorly this season and was replaced in the lineup in August by Yorvit (“Torry”) Torrealba.

However, by the 11th inning, Rockies manager Jim Tracy was running out of pinch-hitter choices and opted to send Iannetta to the plate. Evidence showed he made the right choice as Iannetta delivered. The “I-man” came close to striking out on the pitch prior to his winning blast, but the first base umpire declared Iannetta had stopped his swing in time to avoid being called out.

When interviewed about losing his starting position and then stepping up to the plate as a pinch-hitter and coming through for his team, Iannetta said, “It’s tough being replaced in the lineup because you want to play. But Torry has been playing incredibly well and it’s what needed to happen. I’ve been struggling at the plate most of the year. He’s come up big the last month and won some games for us. So I understand it completely.”

Iannetta continued, “But it doesn’t change your desire to want to play and to want to contribute. That’s what I’ve said this whole time I’ve been sitting on the bench. I just want to contribute — and it was great to do so tonight.” His teammates were just as thrilled.

Rockies star player Todd Helton said, “It’s good to see ‘I-man’ hit that home run right there. Every time he goes up to the plate, you pull for him. He’s such a good guy and he works really hard. It’s a season-changer for him.”

We all can relate to Tennyson’s words and Iannetta’s situation — and many of our troubles are much greater than losing a starting position on a major league baseball team. Daily, it seems we are all faced with problems of some sort: physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, financial. And at one time or another, we are all faced with an unexpected crisis of major proportions.

The realization that problems are an integral part of our lives is what makes God’s message in Psalm 50:15 so important: “I want you to trust Me during your times of trouble, so I can rescue you, and you can give Me glory.” This realization is also why I wrote in my Winning Thoughts book: “Move away from your past failures — Forget your past mistakes — Focus on today — That’s what winning takes — Yesterday is over — Today is important now — Work toward current goals — Concentrate on HOW!”

Kudos to Chris Iannetta for hanging in there and for “keeping on keeping on.” Kudos to him for not pouting, complaining and hosting a pity-party. Kudos to him for stepping up to the plate and delivering when called upon. We can learn from such things and apply them to the game of life, a much larger stage than the game of baseball.

© 2009. Carl Mays of Gatlinburg is an author and speaker. E-mail to carlmays@carlmays.com, call 436-7478 or visit www.carlmays.com. The www.mymerlin.net site is based on his book and program, “A Strategy for Winning.”