Baseball players, like any other sport, want to be remembered for their accomplishments in their sport, but sometimes, it makes no difference how many hits a player hit, how many run he made, or how many outs he assisted in. Sometimes, it’s something totally outside the normal scope of the game that really matters. Such was the case on August 8, 1982, at Fenway Park…a moment that will be forever remembered in baseball history, and it wasn’t for the game.
It was a normal day at the ballpark. Everyone there was doing the normal baseball things. They were there on that hot day to watch the game they loved, to eat hot dogs and other baseball food, and to cheer on their team. For many of them, that team was the Boston Red Sox. Little did they know, that remembering the details of the game would soon be the furthest thing from their minds. Instead, they would remember the actions on one player in a moment of gravest circumstances. That player was Jim Rice.
Everyone is used to the crack of the bat hitting the ball in a baseball game. All eyes start to follow the ball to see how it will affect to score. Foul balls are of particular interest, because catching a foul ball means having a souvenir of the game. So, all eyes were on the ball that struck a four-year-old boy in the head. He simply didn’t have time to react. Everyone froze. Gasps were heard. Everyone knew how bad this was likely to be. In a moment when speed was needed, everyone seemed to move in slow motion…except Jim Rice, who had been watching from the dugout. He literally sprang into action. His didn’t think, didn’t call for help, didn’t wait to see what would happen. He ran to the boy. The boy had fallen to the ground unconscious, and Rice picked him up, with purpose, turning to run back to the dugout where he knew the team doctors would be. The EMTs arrived soon after, and soon the boy was taken to the hospital. He survived, and some would say that it wasn’t because of a miracle, but rather because Jim Rice moved. Still, I say that sometimes people are instrumental in God’s miracles. That what really happened that day. God spoke to Jim Rice and told him to run. He did, and a boy was saved. Doctors said that if Rice hadn’t acted so quickly, the boy would likely have died. Seconds were saved, and that was what mattered.
It was a day and a game to remember, but it didn’t end there. Rice was a good man…a generous man. He went to th hospital to check on the boy and found an even bigger story. The family didn’t have much, and the medical expenses would be really hard on them. Rice still wasn’t trying to make baseball history or worrying about his fame. He was just a generous giver, and so he went to the hospital’s business office and told them to send all the bills to him. That family would never see a medical bill for their precious son. He wasn’t trying to be 
famous for his actions, in fact for a long time, no one even knew. He was just trying to help someone in need. One story said of the incident and of Jim Rice, “No press release. No spotlight. Just grace.”
Afterward, he simply returned to the game still wearing a bloodstained uniform. He wasn’t looking to get into the news. He didn’t tell anyone what he had done. He was “just a man who had done something heroic and saw no reason to tell anyone about it.” The act had nothing to do with baseball, it was about a boy in crisis, a family in need, and a man who cared. While Jim Rice was a great baseball player, it was no baseball that was his “finest moment” but rather the heroic act that saved the life of a four-year-old boy…and his family.
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