Mike Yorkey - Playing with Purpose: Baseball: Inside the Lives and Faith of Major League Stars

I NSIDE THE L IVES AND F AITH
OF THE M AJOR L EAGUES B IGGEST S TARS

This book reminds me why I love the game of baseball so much: It is a sport rich in historyour nations pastime through times of war and times of peace. I am encouraged to see baseball players today using their platform to make a difference. This book brings to life the testimonies of ballplayers who are living life and playing the game with a greater purpose and an eternal perspective. Playing with Purpose: Baseball will inspire readers to find a specific platform and make a difference right where the Lord has placed them.
Clayton Kershaw, 2011 Cy Young winner and author of Arise

Playing with Purpose: Baseball shares the testimonies of todays stars, like Albert Pujols, Josh Hamilton, Mark Teixeira, and Mariano Rivera. Great to read about Christian athletes who love Christ.
Bobby Richardson, eight-time All-Star and 1960 World Series MVP

Playing with Purpose is a worthwhile read for everyone, but especially young men and women who aspire to make a mark in athletics. In sports, faith is an asset on many levels. Ones faith provides the strength to absorb failure and loss, even deal with injuries. Faith is the basis for a strong presence in the locker room, and leadership on and off the field. Ones faith can be displayed on the field and absorbed by the fans as something to desire and work for. Playing with Purpose: Baseball describes how many of todays Christian athletes carry these assets of faith in their careers.
Mike Schmidt, Baseball Hall-of-Famer

Great bookgreat insight into the lives of a few Christ-fearing ballplayers.
Adrian Gonzalez, Boston Red Sox All-Star

As a former pitcher familiar with the pressures of Major League Baseball, Im encouraged to see how my brothers in Christ are handling fame and fortune. They are using their gifts to exalt Christ and build His kingdom. This book is a fascinating glimpse into some great players who love Jesus!
Frank Tanana, twenty-year Major-Leaguer and three-time All-Star

A must-read for everyone who wants to get to know the good guys in baseball.
Jeremy Affeldt, San Francisco Giants reliever

Playing with Purpose is the most in-depth, insightful look at the lives of major league ballplayers I have read. It takes you inside their world, and their faith in Jesus Christ will inspire you.
Vince Nauss, President, Baseball Chapel

2012 by Mike Yorkey

Print ISBN 978-1-61626-490-1

eBook Editions:
Adobe Digital Edition (.epub) 978-1-60742-822-0
Kindle and MobiPocket Edition (.prc) 978-1-60742-823-7

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Churches and other non-commercial interests may reproduce portions of this book without the express written permission of Barbour Publishing, provided that the text does not exceed 500 words and that the text is not material quoted from another publisher. When reproducing text from this book, include the following credit line: From Playing with Purpose: Baseball, published by Barbour Publishing, Inc. Used by permission.

All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version. niv . Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2010 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture quotations marked nlt are taken from the Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Cover images (L to R); Tom DiPace, PACET, Associated Press; Stephen Dunn/Getty Images Sports; Tony Gutierrez, AP, Associated Press

The author is represented by WordServe Literary Group, Ltd., Greg Johnson, Literary Agent, 10152 S. Knoll Circle, Highlands Ranch, CO 80130

Published by Barbour Publishing, Inc., P.O. Box 719, Uhrichsville, Ohio 44683 www.barbourbooks.com

Our mission is to publish and distribute inspirational products offering exceptional value and biblical encouragement to the masses.

Printed in the United States of America.

Baseball has been called, among many other things, timelesswhich is an interesting statement when you consider that this great game is the only major sport in America contested without a time clock.

Beginning at the moment the umpire shouts, Play ball!, baseball moves to its own distinct rhythms. The leadoff batter steps into the box, and the pitcher fidgets on the mound before hurling his first pitchand then the game proceeds at its own pace. Throw the ball. Swing the bat. Three strikes and youre out. Four balls and take your base. Touch home plate and score a run. Nine innings make a game. The permutations of the games outcome are seemingly as infinite as the stars in the heavens or the particles of sand on a seashore.

Baseball actually follows the patterns of nature. After a gloomy winter, baseball season begins in the spring with its promise of hope and sunnier times. The hot summer months are a proving ground, a time when greatness is forged in the crucible of the regular season. Fall is reserved for the final and decisive moments of baseballs playoffs, after which another dreary winter sets in.

Baseball may not be Americas oldest sporttheres evidence that Native Americans played a game that resembled modern-day lacrosse in the seventeenth centurybut nearly everyone agrees that baseball seeped into the national consciousness earlier than any other sport. The history of baseball dates back to the Revolutionary War, when George Washingtons troops at Valley Forge batted balls and ran bases in a game that resembled cricket, a British pastime that played a role in the evolution of baseball. Lewis and Clark played catch during their exploration to the Pacific Ocean. Robin Carvers Book of Sports, first published in 1834, described how an American version of rounders rivaled cricket in popularity.

According to American folklore, Abner Doubleday invented baseball in 1839. But baseball historians, after reading Doubledays diary, have discovered that he was never in Cooperstown, New York, when the first game was supposedly played or any time after that. Instead, he was a cadet at West Point and never even mentioned baseball in numerous letters and papers found after he passed away in 1893.

Alexander Cartwright, a New York bookseller, is now generally credited with inventing the modern form of baseball. In 1845, he formed a committee that drew up rules for baseballlike limiting the number of outfielders to three and tagging the runner instead of throwing the ball at him. The new rules were widely adopted.

Cartwright founded the New York Knickerbockers Base Ball Club, and it wasnt long before other teams formed and new leagues banded together. By the turn of the twentieth century, major league baseball was played in the biggest cities in the Northeast, particularly New York City, as well as further west in Cincinnati and Chicago.

The game of bats and balls captured the hearts of the working class. Granted, there wasnt much competition in an era that predates radio, movies, and television. But its irrefutable that baseball became woven tightly within the fabric of American culture, thanks in large part to the emergence of sports pages in daily newspapers and to the countrys rapid industrialization and urbanization. Baseball provided an escape and a refuge from the pressures of daily life. The lush greenness of the baseball field in the middle of a gritty tenement-strewn city heralded a return to natures simple and pure roots.