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FIRST-PERSON: Anderson sets sights on God first, big leagues second by Tim Ellsworth Date: Jul 21, 2006 |
JACKSON, Tenn. (BP)--In his first Major League training camp this past spring, Houston Astros outfielder Josh Anderson got to interact with some of the team’s big shots -- like Lance Berkman, Andy Pettitte and Roy Oswalt.He got to see them on the field and how they approach their profession. He got to see them off the field and how they approach their lives. Berkman especially made an impact on the young Anderson, now playing for the Astros’ Double-A team in Corpus Christi. Anderson had the chance to attend a Bible study that Berkman leads for the team. “I looked up to him a lot before,” Anderson said. “He walks the walk that he preaches.” Anderson, with dreams of the big leagues in the forefront of his mind, knows he can learn a lot from veterans like Berkman -- both about baseball and about his Christian walk. “I think my duty as a player and a Christian is to share the word with other people and be a witness wherever God puts me,” Anderson said. And so while Anderson desperately wants to play in the big leagues, he’s not simply on cruise control. He knows God has him where he is for a reason, and he wants to redeem the time. Maybe that means talking to his teammates about God as they stand around the batting cage during batting practice. “There have been a lot of windows God has opened for me to share my testimony with other guys,” Anderson said. Maybe it means being deliberate about how he conducts himself and how he treats other people. “The thing that speaks out volumes is the way you act, and the way you present yourself -- even through times of struggle,” Anderson said. “There’s a lot of failure in this game.” While that may be true, Anderson has also had his share of success. So far this year in Corpus Christi, he’s hitting .309 with 32 stolen bases. Stats like that don’t take long to grab the attention of team officials. But Anderson said he sometimes struggles with getting too preoccupied with his performance. “Sometimes I get caught up in the game,” he said. “It’s fine to think about the game and try to get better, but sometimes I focus on the game too much away from the game.” And so he tries to stay grounded in God’s Word, and he tries to remember that baseball isn’t the most important thing in the world. He discovered the most important thing when he was only 7 years old. Anderson grew up in rural Kentucky, near the town of Somerset. He was raised in a Christian home, and his parents were faithful members of a local Baptist church. At age 7, Anderson gave his life to the Lord. “At the time I didn’t really know a lot about the Bible,” he said. “I’ve grown a lot since then. But I knew at that age where I wanted to spend eternity, and that was the thing that got me. I can’t do it on my own.” --30-- Tim Ellsworth writes this column from his home in Jackson, Tenn. Write to him at timellsworth@gmail.com or visit his blog at www.timellsworth.com for additional commentary on sports, Christianity, culture and politics.
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