Anthony Rendon, the third baseman of Washington Nationals, helped his team win their first World Series Championship earlier this month, but he would rather you remember him as a Christian than a baseball player.
While Rendon has quickly emerged as one of the league’s top stars, he remains modest and seeks to be more known by his faith than through his athletic ability.
The batting average of the 29-year-old player in the World Series was .276, including a home run in both Game 6 and Game 7.
In short, his success in Game 7 helped his team secure their first World Series championship, but he remains humble.
“He’s shown integrity,” his mother, Bridget Rendon said to The New York Times. “He doesn’t say: ‘Look at me, I’m a great guy.’ I like that attitude about him, that he doesn’t do that.
“I’m very proud of him for his ability, but he knows it’s all God-given. He doesn’t take anything for granted.”
During the high-pressure games, media outlets were acutely aware of Rendon’s unexplainable peace.
“I think I understand that’s there are bigger things going on in this world and my Savior, Jesus Christ, gives me that patience and that slow heart rate,” he told ESPN.
In a 2018 interview with his pastor, Gregg Matte, from Houston’s First Baptist Church, Rendon said he would much rather leave a legacy of faith than a legacy of athleticism.
He said was brought onto the idea after listening to Christian rapper KB’s lyrics in “I Am Not the One.”
“Callin’ me the Christian rapper,” KB said, “All I know, I just wanna be more Christian than rapper.”
“I want to be known as the Christian baseball player,” Rendon stated in the 2018 video.
“I’m still trying to grow into that. But at the end, I want to be more ‘Christian’ than ‘baseball player.’”
https://www.facebook.com/GreggMatte/videos/1595082350571952/
The World Series champ was aware that those words come with a multitude of challenges, but he laid out a few ways that could help keep his priority on his identity in his faith.
“If I just try to stay in the Word and try to surround myself with good people and have good community,” he said, “I think God will just guide me on that path.”
Rendon just became a free agent earlier this month. For now, he is enjoying his monumental win and giving all of the glory to Jesus.
