“The Return of
Heroes.” That’s what the media
called the home-run race between Mark
Maguire and Sammy Sosa the summer of 1998.
Maguire finished with 70 and Sosa with 66,
but not before both had become overnight
sensations in the sports world, and heroes
in American culture… until a few years
ago. Allegations of steroid usage of
baseball players started circulating in 2002
and many, many players, including Maguire
and (just a few months ago) Sammy Sosa, have
been accused of heavily taking
performance-enhancing drugs and inflating
the home run numbers that had made them
heroes to baseball fans everywhere. It
was a black eye that the game of baseball
still has not recovered from.
What a relief then, what a breath of fresh
air the city of St. Louis experienced when
another slugger quickly took Mark
Maguire’s place as the hero of their city.
Albert Pujols, who entered baseball in 2001,
at age 29 has already been named
baseball’s Rookie of the Year, MVP twice,
and has led the St. Louis Cardinals to a
World Series Championship (and another great
season this year). “Prince
Albert,” as he’s been nicknamed, has
become a hitting machine as well as a great
first baseman, and has never tested positive
for any performance-enhancing drug. He
has won the admiration of his teammates and
his coach, and has often said that he will
take a steroid-test any time, any where.
Despite all these accolades and all-star
stats, though, whenever Pujols is asked what
aspect of his life is most important to him,
he says his faith.
In an article in
USA Today a few months ago, Pujols’ wife,
Diedre, said about Albert, “As he gets
older, he realizes how important [his faith]
is. He hungers to use his resources to
empower others. He realizes that if
God is going to promise salvation as a free
gift, he’s going to do what God requires.
It is that simple. That’s the kind
of person he is. That’s what makes
him special.” Pujols is heavily
involved in working for charity and has
already set up his own foundation for such
work, including public speaking, youth
activities, and going on mission trips.
In 2006 after the Cardinals won the World
Series, Pujols skipped the traditional trip
to the White House to be congratulated by
the President to take a team of dentists on
a mission trip to the Dominican Republic.
A dentist on that trip, Homer Sedighi, said
that “[Albert] loaded 20 suitcases of
equipment and supplies in our minivan.
I wanted to help, but he said, ‘You do the
doctoring. I don’t want anything to
happen to your fingers.’ “
When I read
this, I admired how this baseball superstar
wanted to fulfill his calling as a
Christian. God gives each of us gifts,
whether we’re an athlete, a computer whiz,
a lawyer, priest, cook, you name it- and He
calls each of us to live according to the
example that Jesus showed us: with
faith in God, reflecting the love that Jesus
Christ has for each of us.
Whatever our gifts are, if we commit to live
a Christian life, it’s not just good for
our well-being but it is also a powerful
message of God’s love to anyone who sees
us. Each of us can use our talents,
our time, or monetary treasure (or like
Albert’s case on this mission trip, all
three) for God and His people. Our
Lord also said, “By this all will know
that you are My disciples, when you have
love for one another.” (John 13:35)
Saint Paul said, “be steadfast, immovable,
always excelling in the Lord’s work,
knowing that your labor in the Lord is not
in vain.” (1 Cor 15:58) “Prince
Albert” has not been timid about doing
just this, or about living his faith, a
beautiful example of how we can all send
this kind of a message if we commit to doing
it. It’s not about how many home
runs you hit- this is what true heroes are
about. I’ll close with another quote
from Prince Albert: “I’ve always had the
responsibility to God to be a role model…
I play to represent God, something bigger
than baseball. This is not about me.
I leave everything up to God.” And
so should we.
