After winning the World Series last year, the Cardinals have a losing record. And having lost pitcher Josh Hancock to a drunk driving accident, in which he was over twice the legal limit in blood-alcohol level, the Cardinals need some Good News.
And there is good news! WORLD Magazine reports that at least six of the St. Louis Cardinals players profess a faith in Jesus Christ. There are the starting pitchers Braden Looper and Adam Wainwright, those steady players Yadier Molina and So Taguchi, and the shining stars Albert Pujols and David Eckstein.
Each of these outstanding men have testimonies of God changing them, the Holy Spirit enabling them to leave behind the old, take hold of the new. Take the MVP of last year’s World Series, David Eckstein, who boldly shares his philosophy of playing:
I’m not as big as the other guys, so I’ve always known that I had to work real hard. But even with all that, I couldn’t do anything without God. It’s all Him. Let Him take control. If I go 0 for 4 I just keep working hard and praying. I’m not anxious because I know it will turn out all right. . . . My faith in Jesus is everything to me. You have to understand that He’s working in His way. I’ve got to do everything possible to be prepared, and then to let Him take over.
The Cardinal’s first baseman Albert Pujols, arguably the team’s most talented player, grew up having to carry his drunken father off the softball fields in the Dominican Republic. The pain of growing up this way led him, however, to the living God. As the Albert Pujols Family Foundation website states: “We exist to honor God and strengthen families through our works, deeds, and our example.”
These exceptional athletes are to be commended for living out their faith, on and off the field.
1 Comment
July 27, 2007 at 7:29 pm
Hi, this is a comment.
To delete a comment, just log in, and view the posts’ comments, there you will have the option to edit or delete them.