Ben Zobrist is why I still love sports

As a fan (maybe now ‘former’ fan? I can’t really decide) of the Houston Astros, I first heard about a baseball player named Ben Zobrist when he was a minor leaguer coming up in their organization in the mid-2000s.  I know at the time he was something of a surprise success in their system — a guy they drafted relatively early (6th round, 2004 draft) but who didn’t have a lot of hype like some of their other selections.

But he faced an uphill battle with the ‘Stros, for more than one reason.

First, the Astros of the 2000s were a pretty good team.  (I know…I tell my 10-year-old that story now and it seems as if it were 50 years ago.)  They were a salty, veteran squad without a lot of immediate holes to fill.

Second, the management team of the Astros at that time were renowned (at least locally in the Houston area) as notoriously slow in moving prospects to the major-league level.  No one is still quite sure how Lance Berkman slipped into town, but the prevailing opinion is that he had a fake ID that showed him to be 30 years old.

But Zobrist’s biggest obstacle was that he was a middle infielder in an organization anchored by a future Hall of Fame middle infielder…some guy phonetically named B-G-O.

Biggio was nearing the summit in his quest for 3000 hits, but was still a couple of years away.  Adam Everett was a solid defensive shortstop and — though few remember this — had become a serviceable hitter in an otherwise strong lineup.

Zobrist wasn’t going to get to Houston unless he bought a ticket to the rodeo.

So it was that he became trade bait for the ‘Stros and was the lure that hooked the Devil Rays of Tampa Bay and delivered Aubrey Huff — you know, the singing third baseman — to Houston.

And Zobrist would leave the collective mind of Astros’ fandom in 2006.

He became a solid major leaguer and turned into one of those guys who just seems to have a knack for making himself valuable to an organization.  I gave him a passing thought each time the Astros played a series against the Rays, or sometimes when perusing box scores on summer mornings.

But I never REALLY thought much about Ben Zobrist at all.  Until…

I got a press release earlier this week from the Fellowship of Christian Athletes that announced a video they had just released featuring an interview with Zobrist.  Oh, I thought, that’s cool. He’s a Christian guy.

Then I watched the video and heard his story…and was really impressed.  I decided to write an Examiner.com story and researched his history and found out that his path seems to be one that God has clearly had a hand in directing.

I tried to detail it a bit in the story to give context to the video, but suffice it to say here that I think Ben Zobrist was born to be a major league baseball player.  Not because of his great skill set, although he has to have the skills to advance to that level.  But, because God wanted him where he is to use his story to share with others.

It’s the kind of story that gives hope to other Christians who perhaps don’t feel that direction as clearly in their lives and it’s the kind of story that impacts those who aren’t Christians in a way that can lead them to Jesus Christ.

Most importantly, it’s a story that he is telling to others.

So now, I’m a Ben Zobrist fan for life.  When the time comes next summer, I will sit at my laptop on MLB.com and vote for him as an all-star until they block me from the site.  I don’t care if he’s hitting .220 or on the 60-day disabled list (“Please Lord, no, don’t make that a prophecy!”).  He’s an all-star in my book and someone who needs an all-star platform.

He’s one of the reasons I still love sports the older I get.  When I was young, I loved it for the uniforms and teams that represented the city and school(s) I lived and died with.  It didn’t matter who was in the uniform, as long as they made me happy as a fan.

Now, I look beyond those weak bonds and really root for the players and people who don those uniforms, but understand there’s a greater ‘team’ they’re on.

* * * * *

By the way, Ben Zobrist and his wife, Julianna, have a website that appears to be a ministry tool for them.  Check it out here. She’s apparently a CCM singer too, although since she never sang with Jake Hess or Hovie Lister, I can’t personally verify that (some of you will get that joke…the rest are just punk kids).  Looks like her music is available at ITunes or Amazon.