Faith at First Base: Paul Goldschmidt’s Journey Through Baseball and Belief

Imagine being on one of the biggest stages in baseball, fighting for a Most Valuable Player award with the likes of Manny Machado and even teammate Nolan Arenado. You win the award and are on MLB Network, the biggest media outlet for baseball, and you are asked about your feelings. What would you say? When asked this question, then Saint Louis Cardinal Paul Goldschmidt stated:

 “I just feel like God has blessed me to surround me with great people and I’ve just tried to soak up their knowledge and wisdom and tried to use it to the best of my ability.”

Now, is it uncommon to see an athlete praise God in a big moment like this? Nowadays I am happy to report that many players use these moments to glorify God in their accomplishments. What is awesome about this instance, is that this MVP award is one he had been chasing for 10 seasons. Goldy had three other top-3 finishes and received votes in all but one season of his career, that being due to injuries limiting his play. He had chased this dream for so long and once he finally got there, one of the first statements he made was a declaration of his faith to the world. The thing that may make this even crazier is that his first few years in the league, he was not even a believer; and now, after winning this major award, it is on the forefront of his mind.

Let’s dive into his story and see how he got to where he is today.

When Paul Goldschmidt was called up to the big leagues, he was not an active follower of Christ. While he grew up in a Catholic household with Jewish ancestry, faith was not emphasized in his youth. Instead, he focused on making a career from baseball, one that required many hours of practice. He was not the most highly touted prospect in his class growing up, so this meant if he wanted to make it to the pros, he would have to put in extra work and extra effort - day in and day out. Meaning he had to sacrifice certain things, such as faith, which he put on the backburner. All that hard work paid off, as eventually he was selected in the 8th round of the MLB Draft to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

It wasn’t until he made it to Arizona when he was shown the true power of God. He was young in his career, learning about everyday life as a professional baseball player, when he started attending a Bible study hosted by some of his fellow Diamondbacks teammates. It was here where he was fully introduced to Jesus, and where he states that God used baseball to reach him. How awesome is it that a player of this caliber was met where he was and showed the love of Jesus through fellow teammates?

As a young believer, but a seasoned veteran in the league, he was traded in the 2019 offseason to the Saint Louis Cardinals. In many instances, you may see people go through a big move like this and lose sight of God and his plan, but luckily for Goldy he was being brought to the perfect place for him in his walk of faith.

If you are a fan of the Cardinals, you know how vital a role faith has played in the organization, especially in the last decade. I truly believe that this move that was made that offseason was God bringing Goldy into a situation where he can surround himself with believers and truly thrive in his faith. I mean look at the supporting cast he had surrounding him, Matt Carpenter, Adam Wainwright, Mike Schildt, all guys who were open about their faith and evangelized within the organization.

As he grew his faith in Saint Louis, he grew success as well, winning the before-mentioned MVP, a Gold Glove, and a Silver Slugger all in six seasons with the Birds on the Bat. After a bitter final season in STL, he was not brought back as a free agent, with STL giving him the chance to play for a contender, a move that sent him to the New York Yankees alongside fellow believer, Aaron Judge. 

While I am new to this whole blogging thing, I really appreciate you joining me for my first edition! I want to highlight many players that we can all root for and see God’s power in the both the sports world and our everyday lives.