{"id":13155,"date":"2013-01-18T11:29:37","date_gmt":"2013-01-18T16:29:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/yimcatholic\/?p=13155"},"modified":"2017-01-24T17:52:19","modified_gmt":"2017-01-24T22:52:19","slug":"blessed-pope-john-paul-ii-in-the-batting-cage-awesome","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/yimcatholic\/2013\/01\/blessed-pope-john-paul-ii-in-the-batting-cage-awesome.html","title":{"rendered":"Blessed Pope John Paul II in the Batting Cage? Awesome!"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><\/head><body><p><figure id=\"attachment_13156\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-13156\" style=\"width: 450px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/85\/2013\/01\/JPII_Shea_Stadium.jpg\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-13156\" title=\"JPII_Shea_Stadium\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/85\/2013\/01\/JPII_Shea_Stadium.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"450\" height=\"180\"><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-13156\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Blessed JPII at Shea Stadium<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><p>For baseball fans, we\u2019re still in the bleak of midwinter. But seeing this video is just what the doctor ordered to put a thaw on the freeze, and remind us that Spring Training is just around the corner (about one week after Lent begins).<\/p>\n<p>While we wait, enjoy this footage of Blessed Pope John Paul II (is it really him? Dunno.) taking swings at an indoor batting cage during his 1987 visit to California.<!--more--><\/p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Pope John Paul II - Batting practice\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/MZ0BbN3m7bU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/85\/2013\/01\/lake-of-beer.jpg\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-13158 alignright\" title=\"lake-of-beer\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/85\/2013\/01\/lake-of-beer-300x223.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"210\" height=\"156\"><\/a>Not bad for a southpaw, eh? and no \u201cwhiffs.\u201d If I ever make it out of Purgatory, I\u2019ll give him some tips (like, \u201cstep into it\u201d) too. Also, in the meantime, I can ask Blessed JPII to start construction on a Field of Dreams style baseball diamond for us (if it isn\u2019t built already). Hopefully there is enough room beside <a href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/yimcatholic\/2012\/02\/st-bridgid-of-ireland-a-saint-after-my-own-heart.html\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\">the lake of \u00a0beer St. Bridgid reports of<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>I should like a great lake of beer for the King of Kings. I should like the angels of Heaven to be drinking it through time eternal.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Speaking of fields, the Dodgers are using the time off <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sonsofstevegarvey.com\/2013\/01\/pardon-our-dust-says-janet-marie-smith.html\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">to make improvements to Chavez Ravine<\/a>. \ud83d\ude42 Blessed JPII said Mass there on September 17, 1987.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_13164\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-13164\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/85\/2013\/01\/popemass_display_image.jpg\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13164\" title=\"popemass_display_image\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/85\/2013\/01\/popemass_display_image-300x204.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"204\"><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-13164\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Papal Mass at Dodger Stadium<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>(H\/T <a href=\"http:\/\/www.southernfriedcatholicism.com\/2013\/01\/bl-pope-john-paul-ii-batting-practice.html\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Southern Fried Catholicism<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For baseball fans, we\u2019re still in the bleak of midwinter. But seeing this video is just what the doctor ordered to put a thaw on the freeze, and remind us that Spring Training is just around the corner (about one week after Lent begins). While we wait, enjoy this footage of Blessed Pope John Paul [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":140,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,36,41],"tags":[56,138,842,843,8,14,841],"class_list":["post-13155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culture","category-living","category-praying","tag-baseball","tag-beer","tag-blessed-pope-jpii","tag-dodgers","tag-funstuff","tag-saints","tag-st-bridgid-of-ireland"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Blessed Pope John Paul II in the Batting Cage? Awesome!<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"For baseball fans, we&#039;re still in the bleak of midwinter. But seeing this video is just what the doctor ordered to put a thaw on the freeze, and remind us\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/yimcatholic\/2013\/01\/blessed-pope-john-paul-ii-in-the-batting-cage-awesome.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Blessed Pope John Paul II in the Batting Cage? Awesome!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"For baseball fans, we&#039;re still in the bleak of midwinter. But seeing this video is just what the doctor ordered to put a thaw on the freeze, and remind us\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/yimcatholic\/2013\/01\/blessed-pope-john-paul-ii-in-the-batting-cage-awesome.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Why I Am Catholic\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-01-18T16:29:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-01-24T22:52:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs\/yimcatholic\/files\/2013\/01\/JPII_Shea_Stadium.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Frank Weathers\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Frank Weathers\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/yimcatholic\/2013\/01\/blessed-pope-john-paul-ii-in-the-batting-cage-awesome.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/yimcatholic\/2013\/01\/blessed-pope-john-paul-ii-in-the-batting-cage-awesome.html\",\"name\":\"Blessed Pope John Paul II in the Batting Cage? Awesome!\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/yimcatholic\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-01-18T16:29:37+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-01-24T22:52:19+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/yimcatholic\/#\/schema\/person\/e10b038fe974070cf79eed8a68e30ebc\"},\"description\":\"For baseball fans, we're still in the bleak of midwinter. But seeing this video is just what the doctor ordered to put a thaw on the freeze, and remind us\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/yimcatholic\/2013\/01\/blessed-pope-john-paul-ii-in-the-batting-cage-awesome.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/yimcatholic\/2013\/01\/blessed-pope-john-paul-ii-in-the-batting-cage-awesome.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/yimcatholic\/2013\/01\/blessed-pope-john-paul-ii-in-the-batting-cage-awesome.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/yimcatholic\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Blessed Pope John Paul II in the Batting Cage? Awesome!\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/yimcatholic\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/yimcatholic\/\",\"name\":\"Why I Am Catholic\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/yimcatholic\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/yimcatholic\/#\/schema\/person\/e10b038fe974070cf79eed8a68e30ebc\",\"name\":\"Frank Weathers\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/yimcatholic\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/34cf0388f197f1eac3cb08280847f207?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/34cf0388f197f1eac3cb08280847f207?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Frank Weathers\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/yimcatholic\/author\/frankweathers\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Blessed Pope John Paul II in the Batting Cage? Awesome!","description":"For baseball fans, we're still in the bleak of midwinter. But seeing this video is just what the doctor ordered to put a thaw on the freeze, and remind us","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/yimcatholic\/2013\/01\/blessed-pope-john-paul-ii-in-the-batting-cage-awesome.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Blessed Pope John Paul II in the Batting Cage? Awesome!","og_description":"For baseball fans, we're still in the bleak of midwinter. But seeing this video is just what the doctor ordered to put a thaw on the freeze, and remind us","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/yimcatholic\/2013\/01\/blessed-pope-john-paul-ii-in-the-batting-cage-awesome.html","og_site_name":"Why I Am Catholic","article_published_time":"2013-01-18T16:29:37+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-01-24T22:52:19+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs\/yimcatholic\/files\/2013\/01\/JPII_Shea_Stadium.jpg"}],"author":"Frank Weathers","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Frank Weathers","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/yimcatholic\/2013\/01\/blessed-pope-john-paul-ii-in-the-batting-cage-awesome.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/yimcatholic\/2013\/01\/blessed-pope-john-paul-ii-in-the-batting-cage-awesome.html","name":"Blessed Pope John Paul II in the Batting Cage? Awesome!","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/yimcatholic\/#website"},"datePublished":"2013-01-18T16:29:37+00:00","dateModified":"2017-01-24T22:52:19+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/yimcatholic\/#\/schema\/person\/e10b038fe974070cf79eed8a68e30ebc"},"description":"For baseball fans, we're still in the bleak of midwinter. But seeing this video is just what the doctor ordered to put a thaw on the freeze, and remind us","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/yimcatholic\/2013\/01\/blessed-pope-john-paul-ii-in-the-batting-cage-awesome.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/yimcatholic\/2013\/01\/blessed-pope-john-paul-ii-in-the-batting-cage-awesome.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/yimcatholic\/2013\/01\/blessed-pope-john-paul-ii-in-the-batting-cage-awesome.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/yimcatholic"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Blessed Pope John Paul II in the Batting Cage? Awesome!"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/yimcatholic\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/yimcatholic\/","name":"Why I Am Catholic","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/yimcatholic\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/yimcatholic\/#\/schema\/person\/e10b038fe974070cf79eed8a68e30ebc","name":"Frank Weathers","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/yimcatholic\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/34cf0388f197f1eac3cb08280847f207?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/34cf0388f197f1eac3cb08280847f207?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Frank Weathers"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/yimcatholic\/author\/frankweathers"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/yimcatholic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/yimcatholic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/yimcatholic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/yimcatholic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/140"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/yimcatholic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13155"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/yimcatholic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13155\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/yimcatholic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/yimcatholic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/yimcatholic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}