Baseball

Cardinals' Paul Goldschmidt has 3-homer day, says 'God used baseball to introduce Himself to me'

By Kevin Mercer May 8, 2023
St. Louis Cardinals' Paul Goldschmidt celebrates one of his home runs in the dugout, May 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Tom Gannam)

The St. Louis Cardinals don’t often have to answer questions about losing streaks. In fact, the franchise hasn’t posted a losing season since 2007, the year following its 10th of 11 total World Series titles.

Yet that’s where the Cardinals found themselves on Sunday in the midst of an eight-game losing streak — their longest since that 2007 season. Cardinals first baseman, seven-time All-Star and reigning National League MVP Paul Goldschmidt had seen enough.

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Goldschmidt walloped three home runs against the Detroit Tigers, helping St. Louis break out of the skid in a big way with a 12-6 victory. It was the team’s first home win since an April 19 decision against Goldschmidt’s former team, the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Goldschmidt added a single to go along with his first-inning, third-inning and eighth-inning home runs in his five at-bats on the day. It was the 35-year-old’s second three-homer game as a member of the Cardinals and the first since March 29, 2019. His feat makes him just the fifth Cardinal ever to have multiple three-home-run games.

“I’m always trying to hit it hard, but there’s a little adjustment with two strikes,” Goldschmidt said after the game, according to ESPN. “You can’t just be up there free swinging. Sometimes, it works out like today and other times they strike you out three times.”

Goldschmidt’s big day came less than a week after he was a guest on Sports Spectrum’s “Get In The Game” podcast with Scott Linebrink. Goldschmidt, who has been outspoken about his faith in Jesus since he entered the majors with Arizona in 2011, reflected on his numerous on-field accomplishments during his career, as well as how God has shaped and strengthened his faith while in the majors.

“God used baseball to introduce Himself to me,” Goldschmidt said on the podcast. “… I was already in the big leagues, signed a contract, had everything, was married. I was not struggling in my life at all. But if I wouldn’t have been there, those teammates wouldn’t have shared and loved on me and invited me and just had me over to their house, the way they lived. I wouldn’t have asked those questions (about faith).”

Goldschmidt is of Jewish ancestry and was raised Catholic, and he wasn’t a follower of Christ when he arrived in the majors. Yet God was at work through His Word and through the believers in Goldschmidt’s life to eventually bring him to Himself.

“Everybody has a foundation they are trying to live their life by, mine is just the Lord’s Word and the Bible and what He said,” Goldschmidt said in 2019. “… Definitely, my goal is to make my faith in Jesus the center and most important thing in my life.”

It’s his faith that motivates him to carve time out of his busy schedule to visit children in hospitals and otherwise reach out to his community.

“Jesus said, ‘Treat people how you want to be treated,’ and that’s kind of always on the forefront of my mind,” Goldschmidt said on the podcast. “I know a lot of people have treated me amazing, and I just want to do my best … to carry that on into treating people how I was actually treated and how I would like to be. And that’s kind of, for me, my motivation.”

Goldschmidt hopes to continue his hot play on the field and help the Cardinals get back into the NL Central Division race, even as he seeks to continue to dive deeper into his relationship with his Heavenly Father.

St. Louis is currently 11-24 and nine games back of the division-leading Pittsburgh Pirates. On Monday, the Cardinals begin a three-game road series against the Chicago Cubs (17-17). The first pitch is set for 7:40 p.m. ET.

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