it was the bottom of the ninth and we were down by six. after a two-run shot early in the game, my friend and i were full of hope. she had never been to a losing game, in fact, and those are pretty good odds. i, on the other hand, have been to many losing games, but thankfully, i rarely leave a game early.

next thing you know, a double, followed by a home run, brings us within two with only one out.

two batters later, the smokin hot gurriel jr gets up and hits the ball into the rays' bullpen to tie it up, bringing us to our feet.

if that wasn't electric enough, you'll never guess what happened next. (unless you saw the highlights, of course.) the SMOAKin hot (only not that kind of hot this time) justin smoak steps up to the plate and hits a walk-off home run. LIKE THE GAME WINNING HOME RUN. in the ninth. after being down by six.

i couldn't stop smiling all the way home and as i watched the replay over and over before calling it a night; it was the second most exciting game i have ever been to (my friend bought me playoff tickets once for a do or die game against texas and we won.)

in typical paula fashion, this got me thinking.

how many times have i wanted to quit life in the ninth inning? how many times have you?

you have two strikes against you. the ball is coming in fast. it may even have a mean curve. life throws curve balls, after all.

or maybe you seem to be dropping the ball at work and your colleagues are producing more than you.

or maybe, just maybe, you feel like you're standing in the field alone. your marriage is rocky or your kids aren't doing as well at school as you had hoped, and you're tired and worn out.

whatever your life looks like at the moment, don't give up; you never know when you're going to get the pitch you need to hit it out of the park. just ask the blue jays.