This is such a great story. I know my wife will love it dearly (and wish she posted it to her blog first) and I love her dearly, so here goes. It is so easy for young people to get caught up in the self-absorbed, self-centered lifestyle of big time professional athletics and pursue self gratification and glory. It renews your faith to see young people that have a proper sense of what is truly important in life and have the courage to pursue it.
He appears to be a solid prospect for the A's and had a super year in Hi-A ball for them last year. That partially explains why the A's organization is feeling a bit of angst today thinking about why a guy would give up all that a life in baseball has to offer.
AWESOME story, and I am trying to cut down on my use of the word awesome, but I do think it may apply here.
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/Oakland-As-prospect-leaving-baseball-for-priesthood-012210#
A's prospect leaving baseball for priesthood
Rob Fai isn’t surprised that Oakland A’s prospect Grant Desme is ending his baseball career to enter the priesthood.
The timing? To him, that’s the shocking thing.
Desme is leaving the game at a time when his fortunes seemed to be rising fast. He batted .288 with 31 home runs and 89 RBIs in 131 games last year. Then he starred in the Arizona Fall League, where some of the game’s top prospects compete. He likely would have started this season at Class AA.
“Here’s a kid that’s on the brink,” Fai said over the phone from Vancouver, B.C., where he works as the assistant general manager for the Oakland affiliate there. “This would probably be an easier decision for someone who was maybe going through the motions in the minors.
“But if you know Grant, the spiritual side of his life has always been a priority. I don’t know if there was a tipping factor that made him wake up and say, ‘Today’s the day.’”
“I’m doing well in baseball,” Desme told reporters on Friday, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. “But I had to get down to the bottom of things, to what was good in my life, what I wanted to do with my life. Baseball is a good thing, but that felt selfish of me when I felt that God was calling me more. ... I love the game, but I’m going to aspire to higher things.”
Desme may never play in the major leagues, but he certainly knows what it feels like to get The Call.
information from thebaseballcube.com
Full Name: Gregory Grant Desme
Born: Apr 4,1986 in Bakersfield, California
Height: 6-2 Weight: 205 Bats: Right Throws: Right
High School: Stockdale (Bakersfield, California) "Mustangs"
College: San Diego State University, Cal Poly
Drafted: Selected by Oakland Athletics in 2nd Round (74th overall) of 2007 amateur entry draft (June-Reg) (Signing Bonus: $432,000)
Greater things are yet to come, greater things are still to be done in this city...
No comments:
Post a Comment