Pitching Religion : For Baseball Chaplains, Speed Is as Important as the Message

Lloyd Cotton sits amid the Angel players and delivers the scouting report.

Except he is not talking about how to pitch to an opponent.

He’s talking about life. And the afterlife.

Cotton does not have much time. When he takes the floor, he does not know if he will have five or 20 minutes. He prepares for 20, but his little flock could be called away at any moment for any number of reasons--one of which is to prepare for the game.

Speed, really, is of the essence at Baseball Chapel. Cotton figures he will get 10 quality minutes.

“One time I saw a very good speaker try to squeeze a 40-minute message into about 15 minutes and it was terrible,” Cotton said. “He was frustrated, the players were confused and I was embarrassed for him.

“I encourage guys who are speaking to have one point--maybe different illustrations, but one point. If you have three points, and you only get a chance to cover one, your overall message might seem fragmented.”

That is why Baseball Chapel exists, to provide some balance in the often fragmented lives of baseball players. They work on Sundays and do not often get a chance to go to regular church services.

“It’s funny,” Cotton says of his regulars, “it’s mostly the pitchers.”

Baseball Chapel Inc., based in Bloomingdale, N.J., began in 1973 to meet the spiritual needs of baseball players, managers and coaches. It has grown to include weekly Bible studies such as the ones that Angel players and their wives or girlfriends have on Tuesdays at a stadium restaurant.

Although Baseball Chapel began by focusing on major league teams, it expanded to include most minor league organizations in 1978. It was started by a Detroit sportswriter, Watson (Waddy) Spoelstra, who noticed that a few teams--the Cubs, Twins, Astros and Dodgers, among them--were trying to meet regularly, often away from the park, but lacked speakers and momentum.

Spoelstra approached then-Commissioner Bowie Kuhn with the idea of having chapel services in the clubhouse. Kuhn liked the idea and backed it.

It’s informal. Players rarely bring Bibles. There is little fringe involved, such as music.

The messages have remained unchanged regardless of the Angels’ record. The theme Cotton has used throughout the season is “Working on the work.”

“I speak 50% of the time,” Cotton said. “I like variety; I’m black, but I like Hispanic, white and Asian perspectives. I like guys with a different theological camp than I might be in.”

Cotton, a physical therapist, volunteers at the ballpark. His responsibilities include providing messages for both teams. When the Tigers were in Anaheim this season, Cotton asked Raul Ries, pastor of Calvary Chapel Garden Springs, to deliver the message.

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Baseball Chapel will always have a special place in Shawn Boskie’s life. The Angel pitcher became a Christian in 1988 through the chapel services in the minor leagues at Winston-Salem, N.C.

“I went to church as a kid, thought I would go [to the chapel services] and I heard the message of salvation,” Boskie said. “I was curious about what I thought I believed; I said I believed in God, and yet it didn’t seem like it was the same as these people were talking about. I really didn’t know what part Jesus Christ played in the whole thing; I thought He was just another player in the play. That’s when I became a Christian, and since then, chapel has become more a part of my life.”

Boskie, along with outfielder Tim Salmon, second baseman Damion Easley and pitcher Bob Patterson, meet about 11 a.m. the day of night games on the road.

“We talk about the different problems that come up, pertaining to baseball or not pertaining to baseball,” Patterson said.

“That fellowship is something you can’t get in the locker room. It’s a business-type atmosphere in the locker room, and the emotional side is not really paid attention to.

“I don’t think Jesus Christ died on a cross so we could have a 3.00 ERA or a .350 batting average.”

Baseball Chapel’s western coordinator is John Werhas of Anaheim Hills, pastor of Yorba Linda Friends Church and a former Angel and Dodger infielder. Werhas selected Cotton to lead the Angels.

This is Cotton’s first year after assisting John Verhoeven for four years; Verhoeven is now pitching coach for the Palm Springs Sun.

Chapel services for the Angels and Dodgers are unusual because, unlike past years, they meet on Saturdays instead of Sundays. The visiting team might meet between 4 and 5 p.m. as the Angels are taking batting practice, and the Angels might meet the following hour while the visitors bat. Meetings are usually held in the auxiliary locker room at the stadium.

At a typical service, there will be 20 Angel players, coaches and Manager Marcel Lachemann gathered around the featured speaker. When the Texas Rangers were at Anaheim recently, nearly half of the players showed up at a chapel session with Cotton.

Cotton has found a significant advantage to meeting on Saturdays: “I can bring in other pastors,” he said. “On Sunday, the big guns are busy--they’re all at church.”

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The Tigers, Athletics and Blue Jays all have strong chapel programs, Cotton said, but not all teams do.

That disparity can be tough on a player.

“We build each other up and hold each other accountable, especially in the heat of battle--our language and stuff like that,” Angel infielder Rex Hudler said. “If you were the only Christian in the bunch, it wouldn’t be long before you’d be right in there with the rest of them.”

Hudler has been with 13 major or minor league teams since 1978 and says none had a stronger core of Christian players than the Angels. Hudler has baseball cards showing him in a St. Louis uniform; on the back is listed his favorite Bible character (David), hymns (“Amazing Grace,” “Love Lifted Me”) and Old Testament book (Job), among other facts. At the bottom, they read: “This card was printed by Rex Hudler and is not for sale.”

Lachemann attaches significance to providing a Christian message for the players who find it important. He has gone out of his way to make sure there is some time set aside.

“It keeps things in perspective; there are so many ups and downs, and if you don’t have a foundation, baseball can be a difficult life,” Lachemann said. But, he added, “I wouldn’t be honest if I said there weren’t some guys who didn’t just use it because they thought it would help them have a good day.”

Even that isn’t such a bad thing, said pitcher Scott Sanderson, whose season ended early because of back surgery. “I don’t feel like pro sports is that much different from society as a whole. . . . For some people, chapel is the only time during the week that there’s any thought to spirituality,” he said.

“Regardless of our profession, regardless of our individual financial situations, regardless of the position society has assigned to us, we all have the same needs.”