Gunnar Henderson, shortstop for the Baltimore Orioles, won, in 2023, the MLB’s Rookie of the Year Award. When accepting the award, Henderson first spoke not about himself, but about his Christian faith and the Lord above, making sure to thank Him first.
In the speech, Henderson put God first, saying, as he began his acceptance speech, “First, I’d like to thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Without Him, I wouldn’t be here tonight. I can’t thank Him enough for just blessing me with the ability.”
Watch him here:
That wasn’t the only time Henderson has spoken about God. In an August of 2023 post on Instagram, for example, he wrote, “Can’t thank God enough for blessing me with this great opportunity. Looking forward to see what the future holds!”
Similarly, speaking to his hometown Selma (Alabama) Times-Journal, Henderson said, “I’m not worrying about it too much.” Continuing, Henderson then added, “We’ll just see what team and if God has that plan the right team will like me. God has me. He knows what’s going to come. I’ll just put my faith in Him and everything will be fine.”
That’s not all. Henderson said last year, according to CBS News, “To have guys you can lean on in that sense and be able to both have that love of Christ and be able just to coach each other and help each other along the way, it’s been really cool to have those guys that I can lean on.”
That comment came when CBS reported on a Bible study many of the Orioles teammates did together. Speaking about it, Henderson said, “We do Bible studies once a week and have chapel on Sundays. It’s really cool to spend time and be in fellowship with those guys.”
Another player, Orioles pitcher Danny Coulombe, said, “A lot of guys prioritize that. Obviously for me, and most the guys, it is the most important thing in our life, even more than baseball. We’re Christians first and baseball players second.”
Kyle Gibson, another Orioles player, told CBS News, “For me, it’s just a good reminder that I think there’s a lot expected of us because of where we’ve been. And for me, I believe that love started in the Bible and Jesus is love, and for me, I’m trying to love people no matter who they are.” He added, “Our faith gives us something to have a little unity over, gives us something to lean on whenever you’re going through hard times.”
Featured image credit: By Bryan Green – https://www.flickr.com/photos/begreen90/49201616553/, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=118325699