{"id":12775,"date":"2017-11-15T17:18:12","date_gmt":"2017-11-15T22:18:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/?p=12775"},"modified":"2017-11-15T17:18:12","modified_gmt":"2017-11-15T22:18:12","slug":"rookie-year-awards-go-two-christian-athletes-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2017\/11\/rookie-year-awards-go-two-christian-athletes-2.html","title":{"rendered":"Rookie of the Year Awards Go to Two Christian Athletes"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Aaron<\/a>Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger were named Major League Baseball\u2019s Rookies of the Year on Monday night. Judge took home the award from the American League, and was the first Yankees player to do so in more than 20 years. Bellinger, meanwhile, received the same honor from the National League, making him the Dodgers\u2019 record 18th<\/sup> Rookie of the Year award winner. The Baseball Writers\u2019 Association of America\u2019s decision to recognize the two men was unanimous.<\/p>\n

Both Judge and Bellinger were instrumental in sending the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers into postseason play. Bellinger hit a National League rookie record of 39 home runs, and Judge topped the American League with a rookie record of 52 home runs.<\/p>\n

As well as sharing the title Rookie of the Year, Judge and Bellinger share a common religion. Both men belong to the Christian faith, and Judge has spoken openly about his beliefs. Judge expressed how grateful he is to have been raised in a Godly family saying that he felt \u201cGod was the one that matched us together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Judge\u2019s adoptive parents have also spoken out about their support for him. Judge\u2019s mother, Jennifer, has made it clear she shares her son\u2019s faith. During Judge\u2019s World Series performance, she retweeted a Bible verse about the power of prayer: \u201cSo, I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe, that you have received it, and it will be yours.\u201d<\/p>\n

Judge and Bellinger are not the only Christian athletes who were involved in this year\u2019s post-season. Jose Altuve played for the Houston Astros in the World Series, and his home run in Game Five is said to have rallied the Astros to beat the Dodgers in extra innings. Altuve\u2019s response to his first World Series win was to give glory to God and to thank his family for giving him such faith in Christ. \u201cThe best success is to live your life the way God wants you to,\u201d Altuve said. \u201cI feel like every morning when you wake up you have to thank Him just for another day.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the opposite side of the field, the Dodgers had another star Christian player, Clayton Kershaw. Kershaw propelled the Dodgers to a 3-to-1 victory in the first game of the World Series by striking out 11 batters. He is an openly devout Christian, and his bio on Twitter simply says \u201cColossians 3:23.\u201d The verse states \u201cwhatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kershaw has also used his baseball fame as a platform to help those in need. His Christ-centered charity, Kershaw\u2019s Challenge, works to transform the lives of children in need across America, Africa and the Dominican Republic. The Kershaw\u2019s Challenge website states that Kershaw \u201cknows his ability to throw a baseball is God-given, and the platform he has been blessed with needs to be used to glorify the Lord.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kershaw himself has stated that he feels the need to use his fame to be a witness for the Gospel. \u201cYou are not supposed to convert anybody,\u201d said Kershaw. \u201cThat\u2019s God\u2019s job. But at the same time, you can be His disciple and\u2026when people ask why you are living for Him, you can show them why.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger were named Major League Baseball\u2019s Rookies of the Year on Monday night. Judge took home the award from the American League, and was the first Yankees player to do so in more than 20 years. Bellinger, meanwhile, received the same honor from the National League, making him the Dodgers\u2019 record…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":616,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3383,10],"tags":[1155,509,3534,1082],"class_list":["post-12775","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christian-celebrity","category-sports","tag-baseball","tag-major-league-baseball","tag-rookie-of-the-year","tag-world-series"],"yoast_head":"\nRookie of the Year Awards Go to Two Christian Athletes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees, and Cody Bellinger of the Los Angeles Dodgers both won the Rookie of the Year award. The athletes are proud Christians.\" \/>\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.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2017\/11\/rookie-year-awards-go-two-christian-athletes-2.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rookie of the Year Awards Go to Two Christian Athletes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees, and Cody Bellinger of the Los Angeles Dodgers both won the Rookie of the Year award. The athletes are proud Christians.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2017\/11\/rookie-year-awards-go-two-christian-athletes-2.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Idol Chatter\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-11-15T22:18:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/files\/2017\/11\/36636778930_d22ac0b1a5_o-260x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Stephanie Hertzenberg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Rookie of the Year Awards Go to Two Christian Athletes","description":"Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees, and Cody Bellinger of the Los Angeles Dodgers both won the Rookie of the Year award. 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