Latest / CBN Sports 1-ON-1 / Ep. 3 Pittsburgh Pirates Konnor Griffin
Transcript
- Will Dawson: Welcome to CBN Sports One-on-One, where you'll hear exclusive interviews with some of the biggest names in sports right here on the CBN Sports Podcast Network. I'm your host, Will Dawson. If you're like most of us and love sports, but you're tired of the dark side of sports culture, me-focused athletes, or even organizations that bow to an unbiblical belief system, you're going to love this podcast. There's no yelling, no sensationalism. Just great conversations with athletes and coaches who recognize that their purpose is bigger than their sport. This week, our guest is Pittsburgh Pirates, phenom Prospect, Shortstop Connor Griffin. I spoke with the 20-year-old about his life as a young husband, the pressure of being baseball's next superstar, and what he sees as his personal identity. Let's jump right in. Connor, I know family is very important to you. You grew up with two brothers. at home. Do you think that family structure was something that you recognized at the time as being something that was really important to you? Yeah, I would say so. We've always had a close family, got two brothers, got mom and dad and ⁓ you know, we've we always talk about having a small circle and, you know, those are my people and that that's who I trust. That's who I lean on, ⁓ with anything through life. And so having a strong family structure is super important to me and I look forward to, you know, building that same type of structure with my wife and And our future family. Speaking of your wife, do you think that's why maybe because they set that example for you that you got married as early as you did? Yeah, yeah, for sure. ⁓ you know, we we wanted to travel together. We w I wanted her to be here during this this crazy season of my life and, you know, we wanted to we wanted to do it the right way and get married, ⁓ so we could live together and and and do do all that. So it's been been a big blessing having her by my side just to go home to a clean house and a place that actually feels like a home. You know, it's just part of that that structure that, you know, that I need and it helps me be able to do my job and and and just be be who I am on the field and get to come home and try to try to be the best husband I can be too. That's awesome, man. We're in twenty twenty six and the average age for men to get married is thirty. You guys started dating at at what? In high school? How old were you? Fourteen? Yeah, thirteen, fourteen. It was eighth grade, so It's a pretty cool cool story that we have. It is a cool story. And so how do you n how do you know? I mean, I guess it'd be like anybody you're telling anybody at thirteen, fourteen, when did you know that you wanted to to get married? Yeah. ⁓ I say it started out as like a just a middle school relationship. ⁓ and then by the time we entered high school, ninth, tenth grade, like she I I could really tell like this is my person, this is my best friend, this is who I want, you know, to enjoy the rest of this life with and ⁓ So I I f I feel like I was talking to her parents at, you know, when I was like sixteen, seventeen years old, telling them like, Hey, I'm I wanna marry her and I wanna marry her as quick quick as I can ⁓ once I once I graduate high school because, you know, with all the baseball stuff, it can be a lonely ⁓ path if you don't have your partner with you. And so I I wanted her to be right by my side and you know, she sacrificed a lot to be to be here, kinda, you know, giving away the college the in in-person college experience just to you know be able to be here with me supporting me so like I said it's a just a big blessing to have her here. That's awesome, man. Yeah. Faith is something that's been hugely important in your life as well. What did that look like for you growing up? Yeah, ⁓ my my family w we always were going to church and went to Wednesday night church as a as a kid and you know faith was the most important thing in our family and you know my parents did a great job of you know preaching preaching the word. ⁓ to us and, you know, always having the word on their lips and just some music they were listening to. Like it was all always faith driven and, you know, it just it it was put in my heart that like that's that's how we we need to live as as humans is living for Jesus and trying to live like Jesus did. And ⁓ so I I learned that at a young age and kinda, you know, been able to keep that going as I have become an adult and really taking on my faith personally and Yeah, trying to find churches and new cities and, you know, trying to keep that the most important thing. A lot of us, I mean, many of us who grow up in Christian homes have that experience where it's the environment, it's the air that we breathe. But then at some point when you're off in the world on your own, you have to kind of make it your own. Yeah. When did that happen for you specifically? I w I mean, I would say I got drafted to to come play baseball. I got sent to Florida and That was the first time I had been away from home and in a new community. And, you know, you have a choice. You either gonna continue to pursue the Lord and find a church, find a new community to to, you know, grow your faith in and or you just kinda get, you know, passive and say, Well, I can just wait, you know, a few months and then I'll go to church when I get back home. But for me it was, you know, I tried to make the decision like, Hey, this is the most important thing in your life. You gotta You gotta continue to pursue the Lord. And so that's that's what that's when I kind of first made that decision, is right when I left home for the first time. Lots of guys playing baseball, playing any sport, go through adversity, whether it be playing time, injury, any of that. You've had such success for so many years. I mean, have you have you dealt with adversity at this level? You're still a young guy. You got a lot of years to go, but I mean, even internally, personally, what what's the biggest source of adversity that you've experienced in your life? You know, I've I've experienced a lot, ⁓ over the years. I know there's there's been a lot of success and that's, you know, all all glory to to the Lord and ⁓ but there there's been some some tough days and some ⁓ some hard times missing home. Like last year I I wasn't married and was having to do it on my own and missed home. So just the emotions like I really just tried to lean on the Lord and you know, if there was tough games, like that's where I found my peace is knowing that, you know, I feel like I'm called to play baseball, but at the end of the day it that's not the most important thing. The most important thing is, you know, living my life to, you know, share the word, share the share the gospel and you know, live to live in eternity in heaven and that's that just brought such peace to me, you know, through the times of adversity, ⁓ and helped me kind of, you know, separate my identity from being a baseball player to, you know, being a Christian and b ⁓ a believer trying to share the share the word. I expect like a lot of people do, because your ceiling is so high and because there's so much hype around who you are and who you'll become someday in major league baseball. How do you deal with that hype with the media, with fans, et cetera? Yeah, I just I I try to use it just to make a positive impact on the the people around me. ⁓ you know, I got lot of eyes on big a big platform and I just try to, you know, use it the best way I can to to glorify the Lord and, you know, something I've always done is my walk up song ⁓ is is called Nobody by Casting Crowns and talks about how, you know, I'm just a nobody trying to tell everybody all about somebody who saved my soul and ⁓ I feel like that's a that's a cool way for me to kind of share the word every time I go up to hit. ⁓ so, you know, with a with a lot of Hype, like I said, it it tries to then the I feel like the devil tries to tell you like that's all that matters, that's your identity is you know, being this great baseball player, but you know, it just brings me peace knowing that I don't have to worry about that. Just, you know, stay in the word, try to live like Jesus and that's all that matters. I'm sure you think of too, just how fragile life is, circumstances that it can be taken away from you at any time. Does your walk with Christ then kind of help you put that in perspective? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, try to never take take this game for granted because like you said, it can be taken away at any time, but you know, there's there's peace knowing that if it is taken away, you know, that's just what God called me called called you to do. ⁓ it's just the the path he wants you to go down and you know, it c it's it it would probably be tough and it'd probably be hard to, you know. come to realization like, you know, this this this time is over, but you know, there's such peace and knowing that the Lord has a plan for you and we're called to just trust his trust his plan and ⁓ it's harder said than done, but you know, there's there's a lot of peace that comes with that. As a twenty year old, ⁓ a month into your first major league baseball season of your hopefully long career, what do you want to accomplish professionally? ⁓ just, you know, I wanna Th there's a lot, you know, there's n there's there's numbers you wanna chase after, you wanna be a Hall of Fame player and ⁓ I think my goal is just to make a make a positive impact on every teammate I play with, every fan fan I play in front of. Like I just wanna just make a good impact, leave a good legacy. ⁓ you know, that this guy played baseball because he was called to he felt he felt called to play this game and he's been blessed and ⁓ Just ⁓ just just to glorify the Lord every time I step on the field. That's that's how I wanna be known. You obviously you're a competitor or you wouldn't be where you are today. You work hard, you put in the work, you've got the the talent, the skills and all of that. what is I mean, do you you wanna be the the best player that's ever played the game? Or I mean, is that something that you think about? Yeah. ⁓ I mean I wanna I wanna, you know, just really just take it day by day and see see what happens. ⁓ but Like I said, I feel like I'm I'm called to play this game and you know, I've been given skills so I don't wanna I don't wanna, you know, let those skills go to waste. I wanna work hard. I wanna train hard and prepare ⁓ the best way I can every single day to go out there and and then do what I love to do and play this game competitively and play it play it hard and just at the end of the day put all the put the trust in, you know, God's hands and he'll he'll he'll take care of the outcomes. But ⁓ every day I'm gonna train and prepare. To try to be the best player ⁓ that's ever played and that's that's a mindset I'll always have. Last question for you, and it's the it's the the faith aspect. Well, it's probably it's a two part question here. What is the gospel and what does it mean to you personally? Yeah. ⁓ the gospel to me is, you know, the words of Jesus. ⁓ you know, everything you need to know about life is written in the Bible, and there's nowhere else you need to look for for that. Except in the Bible. ⁓ and for me it's, you know, trusting trusting in the Lord's plan and trusting that, you know, his words are are, you know, what we need to follow and how we need to follow ⁓ And if you if you do that then, you know, your life will be filled with a lot of joy and and happiness and you're not chasing after worldly things, you're chasing after the things that Jesus told us to do. The day we shot this interview, Connor recorded the first four hit game of his career. This Pirates team has a core group of guys who are solid believers and contributors to the team. So we'll be watching Connor's growing career. And if you want a fun and scrappy team to follow this summer, check out the Pirates as they battle for their first ever NL Central title. It's hard to believe. And their first division title since 1992, long time ago. Look, these conversations are meant to be conversation starters. And if you know someone who might benefit from hearing some of their heroes. proclaim their faith in Christ, please share this podcast. Go ahead and subscribe. Our goal is to reach the world with the gospel through the platform of sports. We'll see you next week.