Beginning June 1971, the Cogdill Foundation will add another publication to its repertoire. Pitching for the Master will at that time begin to be published by the Cogdill Foundation.

Pitching for the Master is a four page monthly journal which for the past five years has been edited by and largely written by Brother Lindy McDaniel. The last few years the paper has been published by the Pruett and Lobitt church in Baytown, Texas where Lindy was a member, and where his good friend Hubert Moss, Jr. preached. However, brother Moss now has moved t Arlington, Texas, and the Pruett and Lobbit church no longer can continue to attend to the extra work incurred in publishing and mailing the paper.

The rather unusual name for the paper is attributed to the fact that Brother McDaniel has been, for about fifteen years now, a major league baseball pitcher. The first few years of Lindys professional baseball career were with the St. Louis Cardinals where he was a starting pitcher. Later on he became well known to baseball fans as a first-class relief pitcher, with the Chicago Cubs, then with the San Francisco Giants. For the past several years he has been with the New York Yankees.

Much more important to Lindy than his baseball career is his involvement in the Lords work. He has preached much, and intends to devote all his time to preaching after his baseball career is completed. Faithful brethren have not tried to make of Lindy a celebrity or a display piece in the church, nor would he approve such an effort, were it be made.

However, every Christian must use the opportunities which peculiarly are his. Lindy has sought to make use of his opportunity to teach by writing and editing Pitching for the Master. More than 4000 persons receive this paper which is devoted almost entirely to first principles of the Gospel. ALL of the major league baseball players and their families receive the paper. Baseball fans who write Lindy are invited to have their name placed on the regular mailing list of Pitching for the Master.

Reaction to the Paper

Most of the response to the paper is favorable, but not all of it is  and the paper would be suspect, if all response were favorable. After all, Jesus said "Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! For in the same manner did their fathers to the false prophets" (Lk. 6:26). The Apostle Peter taught that those who would live godly in Christ Jesus shall be thought "strange," and will be evil spoken of (I Pet. 4:14). Peter also said there would be some who would "revile your good manner of life in Christ" (I Pet. 3:16).

A man therefore is to be judged as much by his enemy as by his friends. And Brother McDaniel has those who speak disparagingly of his efforts and teachings  as does every other faithful Christian.

One of his fellow baseball players wrote a cynical and obscene little paperback book. I would prefer not even to tell you the name of the book, since I have heard that to blacklist a book is one way to make it a best seller, and I certainly have no desire to recommend or promote this blasphemous and vulgar book written by a fellow pitcher. But here are some of the things this self-confessed agnostic has to say about Lindy and Pitching for the

Master:

"Today I've been thinking about God and baseball, or is it baseball and God? In any case, this rumination was caused by the sight of Lindy McDaniel of the Yankees. Although I've never met him, I feel I know him pretty well because of this newsletter he sends out from Baytown, Texas called "Pitching for the Master." One of the first I got from him-and all the players receive them-was a complete four-page explanation of why the Church of Christ was the only true church. The dogmatism of this leads to the kind of thinking you find in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and in Guideposts and The Reader's Digest. . . . So I've been tempted sometimes to say into a microphone that I feel I won tonight because I don't believe in God. I mean, just for the sake of balance, to let the kids know that belief in a deity or "Pitching for the Master" is not one of the criteria for major-league success"

On the other hand, faithful brethren appreciate the simple Christian life Brother McDaniel tries to live. What his brethren think of him is best evidenced by the following statement from the February, 1971 Florida College News Bulletin:

"The twenty-fifth anniversary lectureship opened on Monday night, January 25th with an overflow crowd estimated at 950 persons. Throughout the week the same enthusiasm prevailed, and crowds filled Hutchison Auditorium at virtually every lecture. On Tuesday an estimated 1100 persons, the largest crowd ever to assemble in the auditorium, heard Lindy McDaniel speak on 'Christianity and Recreation."

Like everyone else, Brother McDaniel's destiny eternally will not be determined by what either his friends or his foes think of him, but by what God knows about his life.

Want On the Mailing List?

It is possible that many young people into whose homes Truth Magazine comes may very much like to receive Pitching for the Master. If so, send your request to Cogdill Foundation, Box 403, Marion, Indiana 46952. There is no subscription charge for Pitching for the Master. However, it will cost well over $100.00 per month to publish and mail this paper. Perhaps some might like to help defray some of the cost incurred by sending an occasional small contribution, but making a contribution is in no way essential to receiving the paper. And young people, you are most welcome to write to have your name added to the mailing list of Pitching for the Master. It will be our hope and that of Lindy McDaniel, that Pitching for the Master will help you to serve Him better.

TRUTH MAGAZINE, XV: 30, pp. 3-5
June 3, 1971