{"id":3027,"date":"2012-10-04T08:00:33","date_gmt":"2012-10-04T12:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/inspiringathletes\/?p=3027"},"modified":"2012-10-04T05:13:30","modified_gmt":"2012-10-04T09:13:30","slug":"inspiring-athletes-2012-major-league-playoffs-preview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/2012\/10\/inspiring-athletes-2012-major-league-playoffs-preview.html","title":{"rendered":"Inspiring Athletes 2012 Major League Playoffs Preview"},"content":{"rendered":"

For a self-avowed baseball junkie, October is always the most wonderful time of the year. Even with my favorite team in the cellar for a second year in a row, it’s hard not to get excited about the 2012 Major League Baseball Playoffs.<\/p>\n

And while you won’t find any hard analysis in this particular column, you will find links to some past Inspiring Athletes interviews that feature individuals that look to make a big difference in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

“Jesus stood up for people. So I think it\u2019s important that people see you stand up for people too and that they see that you believe in them. How easy would it be for Jesus not to believe in us as many times as we screw up in the course of a day? But He always believes in us. And by dying on the cross, He stood up for us in the ultimate way.” — Joe Girardi – New York Yankees (Manager<\/a>)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>“I don\u2019t play baseball first. I put Christ first in my life. I put my family behind Him and I put baseball down the line. I obviously want to succeed. I want to do well. I want to perform. But at the same time, I\u2019m at peace that no matter what happens on this earth, the more important part is being a Christian, and being in the Kingdom of Heaven when it\u2019s all said and done.” — Mark Teixeira – New York Yankees (First Baseman)<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>“I don\u2019t think you can overstate the importance of using your platform or using the position that you\u2019ve been given to affect good in every circumstance that you\u2019re in. Obviously, the only reason I\u2019m where I am is because God has gifted me and He has seen fit to put me where I am. I have to honor that by using my influence and my status on the team and in the game of baseball for good and to His purpose.” — Lance Berkman – St. Louis Cardinals (First Baseman)<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>“I try to encourage everyone I come into contact with and be a guy who\u2019s open to talk about whatever a teammate or a friend is going through. In the conversations, I\u2019ll tell them I don\u2019t struggle with that anymore because of my faith. They\u2019re experiencing the same voids that I used to have in my life. My relationship with God has filled those voids with me. You\u2019re not going to be able to fill those voids with anything else.” — Zach Duke – Washington Nationals (Pitcher)<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>“It\u2019s important that we stand up for what we believe in and that we instill those morals into our young kids and that we are that good role model to our wives. At the end of the day, everyone\u2019s goal should be to live a life that\u2019s pleasing to God. And when you live that kind of life, people will see you as a good, strong, morally straight man of integrity, filled with love and compassion.\u201d — Adam Wainwright – St. Louis Cardinals (Pitcher)<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>“My responsibility as a believer is the Great Commission\u2014to go into all the world and preach the Gospel. Baseball is part of the world…It\u2019s my responsibility to go into that world and preach the Gospel…Baseball is what I do. It\u2019s not who I am. I\u2019m a follower of Jesus Christ. I need to use what I do to show people who I am.” — Jeremy Affeldt – San Francisco Giants (Pitcher)<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Here are some other notable playoff participants of faith that you can also follow: David Ross (Atlanta), Mike Matheny (St. Louis-manager), Jake Westbrook (St. Louis), Carlos Beltran (St. Louis), Matt Holliday (St. Louis), Josh Hamilton (Texas), Roy Oswalt (Texas), Andy Pettitte (New York) and Stephen Drew (Oakland).<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For a self-avowed baseball junkie, October is always the most wonderful time of the year. Even with my favorite team in the cellar for a second year in a row, it’s hard not to get excited about the 2012 Major League Baseball Playoffs. 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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\/3027","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=3027"}],"version-history":[{"count":31,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3027\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3064,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3027\/revisions\/3064"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3027"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3027"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3027"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}