THIS IS EPISODE 61 OF THE SPORTS SPECTRUM PODCAST

Minnesota Twins second baseman Brian Dozier won a Gold Glove and is the first American League second baseman to ever hit 40 home runs in a season (40 in 2016).

Twins pitcher Kyle Gibson went 6-0 in his last 8 starts and finished with 12 wins in 2017.

Both are teammates and devoted followers of Christ.

On this episode of the podcast, we talk with Brian and Kyle about helping the Twins to an amazing turnaround from losing 100 games in 2016 to being in the playoffs in 2017. We also go inside the clubhouse to hear about their faith and how they live out who they are in Christ with their teammates each day.

Brian Dozier in a May 2017 game against the Orioles. (Photo Courtesy: Keith Allison/CC License
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode

TIMELINE:

3:40 – Looking back at the 2017 season for the Twins

6:20 – Mindset coming off of a 100 loss season.

10:05 – The experience of playing in the postseason.

13:40 – Learning from losing to the Yankees.

15:45 – Being a fan after you’re eliminated from the postseason.

17:30 – Fellowship and faith in the Twins clubhouse.

21:05 – Balancing being a believer and still doing your job as a MLB player.

24:20 – Sharing their faith with a teammate.

30:30 – Dealing with adversity as a Christian baseball player.

40:45 – Using the platform as a MLB player to be open about sharing your faith.

Kyle Gibson pitching at the Twins v. Cardinals spring training game, March 2017. / Aliese Willard, Sports Spectrum

QUOTES:

“We knew that we had a lot of talent but talent doesn’t win you games in the Big Leagues.” (Brian Dozier)

“I was exhausted, so tired of losing. You don’t go out to try to break records individually, you’re trying to win championships.” (Dozier)

“It makes you fall in love with the game a little bit more.” (Dozier on playing in the postseason)

“Kyle and I lead the baseball chapel.” (Dozier)

“When you have a guy like Paul Molitor, firm in his faith, when you have a guy like that, he’s always at chapel, and when you see a Hall of Famer, some of the guys are like ‘if he’s doing it, maybe I should check it out.'” (Dozier)

“I try to get people away from from religion or rituals, and just get back to talking to Jesus, talking about Jesus.” (Dozier)

“The best thing I can do is live life and love people.” – (Kyle Gibson)

“Live life and treat people with respect no matter what they believe.” – (Gibson)

“I’m not in there just trying to evangelize, I’m just trying to live the way Christ wants me to live.” – (Gibson)

“When the door opens, I don’t want to miss it.” – (Gibson)

“Remind yourself to get back to loving what you do. If I’m trying to glorify myself or my family, or try to make a lot of money, or build the biggest house, then that’s all out of whack.” – (Dozier)

“God has me here for this reason, more so than on the field.” (Gibson)

“It’s not like I can save anybody. Jesus works through us when the time is right in a way that we can’t do ourselves. Just let HIM do the work.” (Dozier)

“Everybody has a platform. We’re all living on a mission to create disciples. You are on mission everyday.” (Gibson)