Matt Holliday MLB PLAYER
I pretty much remember most of my childhood with a baseball, playing baseball. We spent
most of our free time at the baseball field.
POUR To empty one vessel into another; to fill up.
I had always sensed God's presence and didn't
really know what that looked like. As I got out of high school and into the Minor Leagues,
I had a lot of great influence in some older guys that I played Minor League Baseball with.
Two that come to mind, a husband and wife, were married. My wife and I were engaged.
They just invited me over for dinner, and just a good example of what a Christian marriage
or being a Christian was about. I thought, "I think I know -- I get it. Following
Jesus is what I want to do."
Matt played for the Colorado Rockies and the Oakland A's. before being traded to the St. Louis Cardinals.
In the two months that we spent in St. Louis after I got traded over and seeing some of
the teammates and some of the guys around the organization and experienced the fans
and how we were treated, that's where we wanted to end up. But you never know if it's
going to work out that way, and it was pretty stinking clear that that's where we were
supposed to be.
Cardinals Manager Mike Matheny poured Christ into Matt's life.
You've got a manager like Mike Matheny, who's a great role model; he's somebody
that I look up to. He's got five kids. They're great kids, and just seeing how they've
raised their kids -- so I've got a chance to play for somebody that I consider a mentor
and somebody that I can really look up to.
Teammate Lance Berkman poured Christ into Matt's life.
The last two months of the year, when I knew Lance was going to be probably headed somewhere
else, I said, "Lance, let's just sit down. I want you to just give me some of your knowledge."
I mean, the guy knows so much about the Bible. "Let's just have dinner every road trip,
every night. Let's just go down and talk about the Bible, and I want you to walk me
through some of the things that you've learned. From the elementary level all the way up,
I want you to just throw up on me everything you've got."
Experiences like that that I've had in St. Louis, and even now, we've got a bunch of
younger guys that are new to the faith a little bit. So you start to see your role sort of
move in a different direction.
Matt and Adam Wainwright have begun to pour Christ into their team
Whether it's just get together and watch The Bible series on DVD with a bunch of guys
and just invite everybody, "Hey, we're going to watch the 2nd episode of whatever"
or honestly dive into the Word -- it's been cool. I feel like both of us have kind
of taken on a bit of a spiritual leadership of some of the team. We don't get to go
to church that often, except in the offseason, and even then, we're doing things here and
there. You're leaving for Thanksgiving, you're leaving for Christmas.
So our church is baseball, and we feel like we've been called to the ministry of baseball,
and we feel like you can make an impact not only to the young believers, but to the nonbelievers,
and set an example of "Hey, we love you. I don't care that you're not a believer.
Come to my house and eat," that we could be as Christlike as possible so that they
might see Jesus through us.
And Jesus continues to pour His life into Matt's
The times when I'm not constantly pursuing our relationship with Jesus are the times
when baseball just beats me up. When I'm chasing after Him, I have peace, and I have
that peace about me, and just praying, "God, just give me peace. Whether it's good or
bad, and if the results are good or bad, I just want to have that peace that I can get
in the box and give You the glory."
MATT HOLLIDAY