Colorado Rockies Catcher Jacob Stallings Prioritizes Faith: ‘Christ is First’
By Movieguide® Contributor
MLB catcher Jacob Stallings puts his faith first, sharing how he found faith by learning about the historical facts surrounding Jesus’ life.
“I am second. Christ is first,” Stallings told Sports Spectrum. “I’ve had a little bit of a unique faith journey. I grew up going to Catholic church. But it really wasn’t until my senior year of high school – I went to a Christian high school, so I was around it. I was fortunate enough to be around it all my life, but my senior year of high school is when I really started asking questions. But still it wasn’t that personal relationship. The interest was there, but I didn’t have that breakthrough moment until my freshman year of college.”
“I’ll never forget it. We were just in the locker room one day, and I walk in, and one of my senior teammates is actually talking to Kyle Seager, who played in the big leagues for a long time,” he explained. “They’re having a conversation, and my locker is right next to there so I was listening. But Mike [McKee], who’s actually a pastor now down in North Carolina, he was talking about his book that he has. It’s ‘More Than A Carpenter.'”
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“I’m a big history guy, a big fact guy, so that really got me interested,” he said said of the conversation. “He told me to read ‘More Than a Carpenter,’ the book by Josh McDowell. Other than the Bible it’s the most influential book of my life.
After reading that book, the athlete invested in his faith, sharing, “I got real involved with AIA [Athletes in Action] in North Carolina.”
His faith has continued to play a key role in his career.
“Stallings prays between every pitch when he’s batting. He organizes the Pirates chapel services and tries his best to practice what he preaches by how hard he works and how he treats his teammates,” Daily Republic reported in 2020.
Originally drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the seventh round of the 2012 MLB Draft, Stallings made his MLB debut in 2016.
He was acquired by the Miami Marlins in 2021 but will now play for the Colorado Rockies after signing a one-year deal with the team earlier this year.
In 2021, Stallings earned a Golden Glove award.
“Make it ????. Congrats to Jacob Stallings on his 2021 @rawlingssg gold glove award!” the Marlins posted on Instagram.
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