Brothers in Christ

[Aristotelian]

15 minutes ago, Explosivo said:

Exactly, that was the point of the thread. No talk of one way of belief being better than the other. Simply, I’m damn proud to support these O’s and am glad they love this game, love playing for each other and glorify the Lord doing it. It’s a neat culture that Elias has built and perhaps that plays into the early success we have seen with such a quick turnaround.
 

I would love to be in the room where Sig, Elias and his team of scouts are gathered, discussing the draft and dissecting potential players as it seems to me there is a definite player profile that tends to trend toward success.

I think where you may be getting some pushback is whether the profile has to be "in Christ" specifically. Can of Corn raised a serious issue in a flip way, but my sense is Kremer is very much supported by his teammates and fits the profile. 

As I mentioned the 2007 Rockies (led by Matt Holliday) could be a good model for this. They did have a concentration of evangelicals but overall the emphasis was on character regardless of affiliation. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/23/sports/baseball/23rockies.html

Asked how his own Christian faith affected his decision-making, General Manager Dan O’Dowd acknowledged it came into play, but not in a religious way. He said it guided him to find players with integrity and strong moral values, regardless of their religious preference.

On the whole, players were relaxed in speaking about their religious convictions but said that faith was not a requirement for peer approval. 

“I think that if they were Catholic or Baptist or didn’t believe in God but were quality players and good people and good teammates, there would be a place for them here,” Herges said. “But I do see a lot of quality people in this clubhouse. This is the tightest-knit group I’ve ever been around.”

[Frobby]

35 minutes ago, Explosivo said:

 

I would love to be in the room where Sig, Elias and his team of scouts are gathered, discussing the draft and dissecting potential players as it seems to me there is a definite player profile that tends to trend toward success.

Elias: “Can he hit the curve ball?”

Sig: “No, but his belief in the Lord is off the charts!  We clocked him at 6.32 PPM (prayers per minute).”

Elias: “Well, OK then.”   

 

[Explosivo]

40 minutes ago, Aristotelian said:

I think where you may be getting some pushback is whether the profile has to be "in Christ" specifically. Can of Corn raised a serious issue in a flip way, but my sense is Kremer is very much supported by his teammates and fits the profile. 

As I mentioned the 2007 Rockies (led by Matt Holliday) could be a good model for this. They did have a concentration of evangelicals but overall the emphasis was on character regardless of affiliation. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/23/sports/baseball/23rockies.html

Asked how his own Christian faith affected his decision-making, General Manager Dan O’Dowd acknowledged it came into play, but not in a religious way. He said it guided him to find players with integrity and strong moral values, regardless of their religious preference.

On the whole, players were relaxed in speaking about their religious convictions but said that faith was not a requirement for peer approval. 

“I think that if they were Catholic or Baptist or didn’t believe in God but were quality players and good people and good teammates, there would be a place for them here,” Herges said. “But I do see a lot of quality people in this clubhouse. This is the tightest-knit group I’ve ever been around.”

Yes that is a very good summation of the spirit of my original post and I think indicative of what makes a good team and specifically a player. Look, at this level, everyone is an incredible player, but what gives a team an edge in my estimation is the intangibles, values, morals, trust and love for your teammates, etc. it all adds up.

[Fiver6565]

11 hours ago, Billy F-Face3 said:

Dunno... Prayed for Gunnar in his 1st career at bat to be blessed, and display talent he has been given, and he hits a home run. Prayed for Grayson Rodriguez to be blessed and have what he needs while he was pitching on a Sunday night in City Connect jerseys, and then he goes out and is able to perform at a supreme level, winning the game 1-0.

In my lifetime I have experienced countless examples similar to that. Repeatedly. At some point it stops becoming coincidental and falls into the parameters of things observed.

It’s absolutely coincidental. It’s not Jesus, it’s superior talent. Have you tried praying for Ramon Urias or Jorge Mateo?  They need Jesus’ help more than Gunnar or Grayson I’d say. 

[NashLumber]

Just leaving this here. Sometimes they can turn on one another. 

Edited April 11 by NashLumber

[Fiver6565]

36 minutes ago, Explosivo said:

Yes that is a very good summation of the spirit of my original post and I think indicative of what makes a good team and specifically a player. Look, at this level, everyone is an incredible player, but what gives a team an edge in my estimation is the intangibles, values, morals, trust and love for your teammates, etc. it all adds up.

Clubhouse camaraderie absolutely matters, I certainly agree from that POV. It’s why the much-derided ‘veteranosity’ is more important to real GMs and managers than it is to keyboard ones. Guys like Frazier, Lyles, Gibson, etc.   But religion can divide just as easily as it can bring together, and should never be a primary focus in any locker room. 

[bobmc]

1 hour ago, Frobby said:

Elias: “Can he hit the curve ball?”

Sig: “No, but his belief in the Lord is off the charts!  We clocked him at 6.32 PPM (prayers per minute).”

Elias: “Well, OK then.”   

 

Amen. 

[harp6]

I once had the privilege to listen to Pat Kelly speak at our church's weekend youth retreat.  Of course, he told his story of his conversation with Earl Weaver.  I am sure many of you heard the story before.  Of course, Pat Kelly told the story must better live, but this is a summary of the story from an article on Pat Kelly.

During his days with the Baltimore Orioles at the end of the 1970s, Pat Kelly talked a lot with skipper Earl Weaver. While Weaver spoke about baseball strategy, Kelly – who became a born-again Christian in 1975 – persisted in talking about Jesus Christ. In one of those dialogues, Kelly proposed to Weaver, “Why don’t you walk with the Lord?” Weaver answered, “I’d rather you walked with the bases loaded.”

https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/pat-kelly-2/

 

[Ohfan67]

10 hours ago, Gurgi said:

The Natural was a very gnostic religious tale.  I love the subtext of it all.  The whole getting poisoned by a Jezebel woman and only properly healed by the feminine power of his childhood sweet heart and being saved in a special "maternity" hospital.  The scene where his girlfriend is in the stands and he is slumping till she holds a round rolled up paper "very phallic" and the sun comes from behind her head like a corona and blast Robert Redford.  

It's very religious but it damn well ain't Christian.  By the way the ending of the book and the movie are totally different.  

 

The book is horrible. I literally threw it in an airport garbage can when I finished it. I was warned that if you love the movie, then don’t read the book. That was good advice that I did not follow. 

[Emory Eagle]

I saw this thread title and I thought it was going to be a complaint thread about watching Cole Irvin pitch.

 

[Babkins]

11 minutes ago, Ohfan67 said:

The book is horrible. I literally threw it in an airport garbage can when I finished it. I was warned that if you love the movie, then don’t read the book. That was good advice that I did not follow. 

Counterpoint: The book is a complicated, layered, richly allegorical work of literature, whereas the film is a beautifully shot, revisionist, dumbed-down piece of Hollywood schlock. I'll die on this hill.

[Philip]

Man….falling into old habits again. Anyway, there’s nothing wrong with expressing one’s Faith in a non-confrontational way. It’s actually quite a good thing.
Taking a firm position on any issue logically requires firm opposition to opposite positions on that issue.

And that’s ok. 
Im quite pleased that Holliday has expressed himself and I hope it manifests in a good way.”Faith without works is dead.”

I don’t think his faith will manifest itself in any OnlyOneOriole way, so no need to fret about that.

I enjoyed “The Rookie” quite a bit, and I was listening to the Rangers game when Jom Morris made his debut against the Rangers, so the movie really took me back.

Meanwhile, every time I attend a game, I joke with my companions about which side of the stadium will have their prayers answered. Right now it seems that the Royals have his ear.

Seriously, though, God has more important things to deal with. 
So, like the song says,” Praise the Lord….and pass the ammunition.”

Thanks for allowing this thread. I’ve enjoyed it.

[Gofannon]

https://www.baltimoresun.com/2002/05/26/batista-keeps-faith-and-quirks-with-os/

 

What a quirky fellow - used to stagger around at 3B after the first pitch of every game to catch an imaginary pop-up from God.

“If I believe in Jesus Christ more than the pitcher, I’m going to have a base hit,” he said. “If he believes more, he’s going to strike me out.”

 

I always loved the quote referenced above.  I used to sit at games, watch him strike out and bat below .250, and think "Man, there sure are a lot of uber-religious pitchers facing Tony Bautista."

[Ohfan67]

5 minutes ago, Babkins said:

Counterpoint: The book is a complicated, layered, richly allegorical work of literature, whereas the film is a beautifully shot, revisionist, dumbed-down piece of Hollywood schlock. I'll die on this hill.

If that’s what you think, then you’re already dead inside. 
 

Just giving you grief. The main characters in the book are all pathetic. The line, “talent is not enough” works exactly opposite in the book. In the end, Roy is a total loser, a total Casey at bat. He literally strikes out!! And the alcoholic stupor where Roy and Kim Bassinger like character hit someone while drunk driving? Yuck yuck yuck. I loved the cheesy heroism, wounded soul redemption story of the movie. Maybe I’m misremembering, I read that book on a flight back from San Jose, Costa Rica, in 1994 after literally spending two months fairly isolated in the rainforest, but I found the book very dark and the characters had basically no redeeming values. I tend to like dark stuff, but sometimes I need a wounded hero type to redeem themselves. I hated, hated the book. 

[Explosivo]

36 minutes ago, Fiver6565 said:

Clubhouse camaraderie absolutely matters, I certainly agree from that POV. It’s why the much-derided ‘veteranosity’ is more important to real GMs and managers than it is to keyboard ones. Guys like Frazier, Lyles, Gibson, etc.   But religion can divide just as easily as it can bring together, and should never be a primary focus in any locker room. 

Perhaps a better title should be “Brothers in Belief” belief in a higher power, sure, belief in each other, most definitely.