Orioles starting pitcher Trevor Rogers had a rough outing Tuesday night, surrendering seven hits and five runs in five innings to open what turned out to be a 9-3 drubbing at the hands of the up-and-coming Washington Nationals.
Disappointing as the outcome was, the 26-year-old left-hander seemed at peace an hour after the final out as he took a microphone on a makeshift stage in front of thousands of people in the lower bowl at Camden Yards and spoke of what matters to him — and many of his new teammates — even more than the outcome of a game in the battle for first place in the American League East.
When he was swapped from the Miami Marlins to the Orioles at the trade deadline two weeks ago, Rogers said at the Orioles’ first Faith Night promotion, it brought an upsetting level of uncertainty, but trusting in his Christian faith calmed the waters and left him feeling he was exactly where he was meant to be.
“The timing — the first Faith Night, my first start in Baltimore, that’s God [working] right there,” Rogers said with an amazed shake of the head, to the cheers of the roughly 6,000 people who stayed after the game for the event. “To be around such a good group of guys, such good Christian guys … this is really fun, and I’m so happy to be here in Baltimore.”
Rogers was one of six Orioles players who took part in the festivities, a celebration of faith that featured a live set of songs by Reach Worship, the house band for Reach Church, a nondenominational house of worship in Newark, Delaware.
With several O’s remaining in the home dugout to listen, the five-member group unfurled numerous harmonious, high-energy praise songs for a mostly orange and black-clad crowd that sang along, many with their arms upraised, with such popular Christian tunes as “Mighty to Save” and “Till I Met You.”
Longtime Orioles broadcaster Rob Long said he could have had the day off, but when he was told about the event he jumped at the invitation to take part.
“Let’s give the Orioles organization a hand for having the courage to put this on tonight,” Long said, sparking a standing ovation that lasted nearly a minute. And when Long said he was sure fans would learn something new and different about some of the ballplayers they cheer for, his words proved accurate.
Infielder Jordan Westburg, his right hand in a cast with the injury that will likely have him sidelined until late in the season, said that as a player in his first full year with the team, he has “never been in a clubhouse with so many players who love Jesus Christ and follow him every single day.” Westburg added that playing “for the glory of God” gives him the sense of clarity and freedom he needs to stay focused in a sport in which failure is a part of daily life.
First baseman-designated hitter Ryan O’Hearn, who introduced himself by saying, “My name is Ryan,” acknowledged having a case of nerves, as he said it was the first time he had ever spoken of his faith in a public forum. He quickly rose to the occasion, though, as he related the anxiety he has felt as he saw himself “growing older” by baseball standards and wondering where his career might be headed.
The 31-year-old quoted a favorite passage from the First Epistle of Peter in the New Testament that calls for remaining humble and “casting all your anxieties” on God — a verse he said had helped him to fret less about worldly timelines. “The stress and pressure I felt gave me a new sense of peace,” said O’Hearn, a hitter who has earned a reputation for driving in runs in the clutch.
All-Star shortstop Gunnar Henderson thanked the crowd for staying after the game and spoke of how “living in the Word” by reading the Bible daily reminds him that God comes before everything, even baseball, and injured relief pitcher Danny Coulombe said that even though he was raised in a Christian home, it took a pastor who challenged him to deepen his faith during his college years to help him develop a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
“This — baseball — is important, but souls are the most important thing,” said Coulombe, who agreed that this version of the Orioles is blessed with an abundance of faithful Christians.
“This is the most faithful team I’ve ever been around,” he said.
In interviews before the game, Henderson said he has long read daily devotionals and used a Bible app on his phone, and he has devoted himself since two weeks before the All-Star break to reading at least a chapter of the New Testament daily.
And veteran catcher James McCann agreed the team has a strong Christian presence — as many as 15 players attend its Sunday chapel services, he said — but rather than practicing a “Bible-thumping” variety of faith, the group focuses more on “treating other people well” in a way that he says has the natural outgrowth of promoting togetherness and good feeling. “We’re truly 26 guys who love each other as brothers,” he said.
McCann’s testimony might have been the most dramatic. He asked crowd members to close their eyes as he told the story of a young couple who had decided to start a family, only to deliver a child who was stillborn. Taking the risk of trying again, they faced another tragedy when the mother suffered such extreme complications six weeks into her pregnancy that doctors told her their child had only a 1 in 4 chance of surviving — and that if he did survive he would be severely mentally or physically disabled.
When others suggested it might be the best idea to terminate the pregnancy, both parents declined, saying they were instead “putting their faith in God.”
“Open your eyes,” McCann said. “I was that child. From day one, God has been protecting me” — quite possibly including, perhaps, on July 29 when he suffered a broken nose when hit in the face with a 95-mph fastball in a game against the Toronto Blue Jays.
To the amazement of teammates and fans, he famously finished the game — and is back on the field after undergoing nasal realignment surgery.
“My goal,” McCann said, “is to share what God has done for me.”
Though the night was the first of its kind for the major league Orioles — the International League team that played in Baltimore under the same name between 1916 and 1953 hosted a number of interfaith events in the 1940s — it’s not new to big league baseball. Eighteen of the major leagues’ 30 teams sponsored versions of Faith Night events last season, according to Religion Unplugged, a Texas-based nonprofit news site. Most celebrated evangelical Christian themes.
Major league stars such as Los Angeles Dodgers pitching legend Clayton Kershaw, former St. Louis Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols and perennial Houston Astros All-Star Jose Altuve have taken part in such events.
Orioles officials said it was not intentional that their event, too, felt strongly Christian, as the club’s “group sales team reached out to groups of all faiths. That outreach will continue for any future faith nights our organization hosts.”
Nearly 3,000 tickets were sold for Faith Night “via group sales opportunities,” a team official said, though all fans were invited to come down near the field and watch. The lower two sections were filled between first and third bases, with others crowding in.
Members of faith groups in the stands said they paid $20 for seats that would otherwise have cost between $50 and $70, depending on the opponent.
To Brandon Still, a worship pastor from Newark, the price was just right. He and his wife, Tabitha, brought their three children with them for the game and the event, and though they were disappointed the O’s lost their 50th game against 70 wins, they said they were seeing the evening through more than a baseball lens.
“The night didn’t end in a victory, but as many of the players said tonight, the fact that you can conclude the evening to give God glory — and to have this amount of people here to see it all — that’s the win,” Still said.
