How Faith Helped Former MLB Infielder Adam LaRoche Shake Off ‘Slumps’
By Movieguide® Contributor
Former MLB infielder Adam LaRoche joined Christian Huff on the “4:8 Men Podcast” to discuss how his faith impacted his baseball career.
LaRoche played in the MLB for 12 seasons, and throughout the ups and downs of his career, he trusted that God was in control.
“I’m glad because I would say I’ve been a believer my whole life,” LaRoche said. “But I’d say later, maybe midway through my big league career, is when I understood the difference in calling myself a Christian and actually following Jesus and being different and taking that route.”
“One of the awesome benefits of that was I just never took baseball that serious, so it made it easier for me,” he continued. “I’m not just saying it was a God thing, but it made it easier to shake off those slumps, bad games, bad stretches, bad seasons, and just…try to always reset and understand that I’m getting to play a game right now and get way overpaid to do it.”
LaRoche left the MLB in 2016. Now, he and his wife, Jennifer, run the E3 Ranch Foundation, which “serves combat Veterans, fights against human trafficking, and provides support during humanitarian crises globally. This three-pronged approach has evolved in a way that only God could orchestrate.”
He’s also part of The Buckmen, a group of men who run Buck Commander. The group also includes Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan, Ryan Langerhans, Tombo Martin, Tyler Farr and Willie Robertson.
“We all know the best friendships always start with a good story, and the Buck Commander crew is no different. When Adam LaRoche was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in 2000, he was prepping for a hunt and lost his favorite Duck Commander hat and needed a new one. So he called the DC shop to quickly snag a replacement. A phone call and a drop-ship later, the friendship between Adam & Willie started to grow and the Buck Commander journey began,” Buck Commander wrote.
LaRoche explained how this group provides a sense of “brotherhood.”
“I can speak from the sport side, baseball specifically,” he said. “When guys get out, that’s the one thing as a former athlete that you miss the most—the guys, the team room, the camaraderie, the clubhouse. It’s so cool because we get to re-create that now with this team. It’s about having that brotherhood again. And it’s not just about big deer. It’s more about the laughs. Here we are 20 years later, and literally nothing has changed [with us]: the sense of humor, the love for each other, and our brotherhood. I think it resonates with people. “
- Content: +1Share:
- Content: +1