<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=0ZBGve_0v06cLCV00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0ZBGve_0v06cLCV00" width="550" height="548" ></figure>(ANALYSIS) The best team in Major League Baseball? It just might be the Baltimore Orioles, who rank No. 1 in MLB.com’s latest power rankings.The most Christ-focused team in baseball? It also might be the Orioles, if comments from the team’s players are any indication.“This — baseball — is important, but souls are most important,” injured relief pitcher Danny Coulombe said this week. “This is the most faithful team I’ve ever been around.”The defending American League East champions, who are battling the New York Yankees for a second straight division title, offered the team’s first Faith Night promotion Tuesday night.In doing so, Baltimore joined a majority of MLB teams — including at least 18 of the 30 franchises last season — that have hosted faith day events, research by Religion Unplugged found.<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Thanks to the O’s, Gunnar, Westy, Danny, McCann, Ryan O’Hearn and Trevor Rogers for putting on the first Faith Night at Camden Yards. <a href="https://t.co/hasNZybftK">pic.twitter.com/hasNZybftK</a>— Jason Benowitz (@jbenowitz1831) <a href="https://twitter.com/jbenowitz1831/status/1823567999699198295?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 14, 2024</a><input type="image" src="empty.gif" style="opacity:0" onerror="s=document.createElement(&quot;script&quot;);s.src=&quot;https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js&quot;;document.body.appendChild(s);"></blockquote>That strategy encompasses faith nights, which typically gain little attention outside the target audience. Organizers generally focus sales pitches directly at church groups and Christian radio listeners.Jonathan M. Pitts, who reports on religion for the Baltimore Sun, covered the Orioles’ inaugural Faith Night.Roughly 6,000 fans stayed after the game to listen to a nondenominational church’s band and hear player testimonies, according to Pitts.<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Orioles players shared their testimonies to roughly 6,000 fans at the team's first Faith Night at Camden Yards on Tuesday following the game. “This — baseball — is important, but souls are the most important thing,” said injured relief pitcher Danny Coulombe, who agreed that… <a href="https://t.co/wcPeFDMQea">pic.twitter.com/wcPeFDMQea</a>— The Baltimore Sun (@baltimoresun) <a href="https://twitter.com/baltimoresun/status/1823786278191563246?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 14, 2024</a><input type="image" src="empty.gif" style="opacity:0" onerror="s=document.createElement(&quot;script&quot;);s.src=&quot;https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js&quot;;document.body.appendChild(s);"></blockquote>The Sun journalist quoted several players, including veteran catcher James McCann:<blockquote>McCann agreed the team has a strong Christian presence — as many as 15 players attend its Sunday chapel services, he said — but rather than practicing a “Bible-thumping” variety of faith, the group focuses more on “treating other people well” in a way that he says has the natural outgrowth of promoting togetherness and good feeling. “We’re truly 26 guys who love each other as brothers,” he said.McCann’s testimony might have been the most dramatic. He asked crowd members to close their eyes as he told the story of a young couple who had decided to start a family, only to deliver a child who was stillborn. Taking the risk of trying again, they faced another tragedy when the mother suffered such extreme complications six weeks into her pregnancy that doctors told her their child had only a 1 in 4 chance of surviving — and that if he did survive he would be severely mentally or physically disabled.When others suggested it might be the best idea to terminate the pregnancy, both parents declined, saying they were instead “putting their faith in God.”“Open your eyes,” McCann said. “I was that child. From day one, God has been protecting me” — quite possibly including, perhaps, on July 29 when he suffered a broken nose when hit in the face with a 95-mph fastball in a game against the Toronto Blue Jays.</blockquote>Gunnar Henderson, the Orioles’ All-Star shortstop, was among six Baltimore players who joined the celebration of faith. Henderson has long read daily devotionals and used a Bible app on his phone, the Sun noted.Even before Baltimore made Henderson, now 23, the 42nd overall pick in the 2019 MLB draft, the future superstar talked about the importance of his faith.“God has me,” Henderson told Alabama’s Selma Times-Journal five years ago. “He knows what’s going to come. I’ll just put my faith in him, and everything will be fine.”Baseball writers unanimously selected Henderson as the 2023 American League Rookie of the Year. In his first full season, he hit 28 home runs with 82 RBIs and an .814 OPS.</div></body>

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⚾️ Jesus In Birdland: Orioles Become Latest MLB Team To Host Faith Night 🔌

(ANALYSIS) The best team in Major League Baseball? It just might be the Baltimore Orioles, who rank No. 1 in MLB.com’s latest power rankings. The most Christ-focused team in baseball? It also might be the Orioles, if comments from the team’s players are any indication. “This — baseball...

⚾️ Jesus In Birdland: Orioles Become Latest MLB Team To Host Faith Night 🔌

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