{"id":1053,"date":"2011-08-17T08:00:52","date_gmt":"2011-08-17T12:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/inspiringathletes\/?p=1053"},"modified":"2011-07-30T17:02:36","modified_gmt":"2011-07-30T21:02:36","slug":"a-conversation-with-minnesota-twins-pitcher-matt-capps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/2011\/08\/a-conversation-with-minnesota-twins-pitcher-matt-capps.html","title":{"rendered":"A conversation with Minnesota Twins pitcher Matt Capps"},"content":{"rendered":"

Click “Like” to share this with your friends!<\/strong><\/p>\n

As a reliever for the Minnesota Twins, Matt Capps has faced every emotion imaginable from the thrill of a game-ending strikeout to the agony of a blown save after giving up a home run blast.<\/p>\n

But in this conversation with Inspiring Athletes, Capps talks about the greater purpose behind his career and how God\u2019s Word helps him maintain a balanced approach to life in the big leagues:<\/p>\n

Chad Bonham: How has your faith in God helped you deal with the up-and-down nature of baseball?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Matt Capps (Photo by Robert Rogers\/MLB Photos via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Matt Capps: My faith puts things in perspective. If I blow a save, I get pretty down about it, but it\u2019s not the end of the world. The sun is going to come up tomorrow. I\u2019m going to have air in my lungs tomorrow. My heart is going to be beating and we\u2019re going to go do it again. We\u2019re not playing for the fans. We\u2019re playing for ourselves and we\u2019re playing to glorify God. If I can get one kid to look at me with my hat off and my chin down, he might look at his mom or dad and say, \u2018Hey, what is he doing out there?\u2019 And explain to him, \u2018Well, he must be a Christian.\u2019 In that situation, I feel like I\u2019ve served Him. Being on that stage, He\u2019s blessed all of us with a great opportunity to show our beliefs and a great chance to spread the Word. If just one little kid sees me doing that and starts asking questions, then I feel like I\u2019ve served a purpose. We can\u2019t do this without Him. He\u2019s the one who gave us the talent and gave us the ability and gave us the chance. Without Him, none of us would be here. People could walk across the street safely and say they couldn\u2019t have done it without God and that would be absolutely true. A lot of people look up to us and want to do what we can do, but there\u2019s a reason why He blessed us with the ability to play baseball. Do I know that reason? No. Am I grateful? Absolutely. But without Him, nothing is possible. He\u2019s the sole reason we even exist.<\/p>\n

Bonham: What do you feel like is your responsibility as a Christian athlete?<\/p>\n

Capps: I\u2019m not an in-you-face kind of guy. I respect the other guys\u2019 beliefs, but if they want to talk about it, I\u2019ll talk about it. I try to lead by example and do things the right way. I read different magazines in the clubhouse than the typical ones that are in there. I feel like that\u2019s my biggest responsibility\u2014leading by example.<\/p>\n

There are a lot of people out there who worship sports and sports stars. It\u2019s important for me to be able to go out and say, \u201cIt\u2019s not about me.\u201d Hopefully I can share than and change somebody\u2019s perspective on what\u2019s really going on. I consider myself pretty fortunate to be able to do that. Baseball has become a worldwide game. There are kids in Japan that are watching Major League Baseball. They see me face (Kosuke) Fukodome of the Cubs and they see me ask the Lord before I pitch for success and thanking Him for the opportunity. Now you\u2019re talking about the whole world and not just the people in a stadium.<\/p>\n

Bonham: How do you stay connected to the Christian community?<\/p>\n

Capps: (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) and Baseball Chapel are huge. There are so many negatives out there and so many different places for the devil to be and for the devil to sneak into your life. It\u2019s good to have some community and Christian fellowship.<\/p>\n

Bonham: What\u2019s your favorite Bible verse?<\/p>\n

Capps: Matthew 28:19-20<\/a>. A lot of times when things are the toughest, you feel like you\u2019re all alone. But later on you look back and realize that things turned out for the good. It makes you realize that there\u2019s a reason behind everything.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Click “Like” to share this with your friends! As a reliever for the Minnesota Twins, Matt Capps has faced every emotion imaginable from the thrill of a game-ending strikeout to the agony of a blown save after giving up a home run blast. 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Chad\u2019s professional journey began at the University of Tulsa where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (1993) while working extensively in athletic media relations and serving as a sports editor for The Collegian. Since then, he has written extensively for such publications as Relevant, CCM, Christian Retailing, New Man, Charisma, Today\u2019s Christian, Ministries Today, Breakaway, Brio, Sports Spectrum, Christian Single, Faith & Friends, Sharing the Victory and Gospel Today. He has authored, co-authored or ghost written and edited 13 books including Life in the Fairway (New Leaf Press), Glory of the Games (Cross Training), Wrestling with God (River Oak), Spiritual Journeys (Relevant) and the four-part Fellowship of Christian Athletes Core Value Series; Excellence, Teamwork, Serving and Integrity (Regal Books). Chad is currently working on five new books including Sooner Legacy, Husker Legacy and Lessons From Sooner Football (Cross Training) as well as The Faith of Stock Car Racing (Judson Press). When he's not writing, Chad lends his efforts to various independent television and film projects. He was the coordinating producer for Choosing Life (2010) and Life Happens (2011). Chad is currently serving as producer on a forthcoming documentary about Super Bowl champion Brian Kinchen. Chad and his wife Amy live in Broken Arrow, Okla., with sons Lance (September 2003), Cole (February 2008) and Quinn (February 2011).","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/author\/cbonham"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1053","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/418"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1053"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1053\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1168,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1053\/revisions\/1168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1053"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1053"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1053"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}