baseball misc. and Riley

First of all, a quote from Angels rookie outfielder Terry Evans on hitting a 2-run homer for his first Major-League hit in his first start last Wednesday:

"What an amazing blessing for my first hit to be a home run, for my dad to see it, and to win the game," Evans said. "I wanted to contribute in some way."

Here's the article: http://www.latimes.com/sports/baseball/mlb/angels/la-sp-angels21jun21,1,955737.story?coll=la-headlines-sports-mlb-angels. (originally found at: http://mlb.mlb.com/pa/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070621&content_id=2041661&vkey=mlbpa_news&fext=.jsp)

Here's a quote from a Q & A article with Astros rookie outfielder Hunter Pence:

MLBPLAYERS.com: How did it feel to be named the National League's Rookie of the Month for May?

Pence: It was humbling. It was a humbling thing to win that award. It is a big deal and it's something that can never be taken away. I'm really proud of that honor. On the other hand, I take it with a grain of salt and just move on. The focus needs to stay on today.

Here's the article: http://mlb.mlb.com/pa/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070622&content_id=2042179&vkey=mlbpa_news&fext=.jsp.

Next, an article about the charity work that Reds outfielder Ken Griffey Jr. does and doesn't want anyone to know about. A note about the autographed balls that the article mentioned he was selling at the Reds/Mariners game this weekend: the balls sold out before the game even started. Here's the article: http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070622/SPT04/706220390/1071/SPT.

Here's an article about 9th Inning Ministries, which was at the College Baseball World Series the past week plus. At the World Series, they passed out free bottles of water to the fans, coordinated baseball clinics in Omaha and Lincoln, sponsored an evangelistic breakfast featuring College World Series players and former Major League pitcher Kent Bottenfield, local hospital visits by professional and College World Series players, a Bible study for the series players. Here's their website: http://www.9th-inningministry.org/. Here's the article: http://www.bpsports.net/bpsports.asp?ID=5612.

Also, an article about 9th Inning Ministries breakfast at the College Baseball World Series, which included Kent Bottenfield, and World Series players: Mississippi State pitchers Justin Pigott and Aaron Weatherford, and Louisville catcher Justin Haywood. Here's the article: http://www.bpsports.net/bpsports.asp?ID=5613.

Here's an article about pitcher Mike Maroth (a Christian) being traded last Friday from the Tigers to the Cardinals: http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070622&content_id=2042251&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb.

Next, a couple of quotes from Cubs pitcher Carlos Zambrano about former teammate Michael Barrett (both Christians) after Barrett's trade from the Cubs to the Padres:

In his four starts since the scuffle June 1, Zambrano is 3-1 with a 1.14 ERA (four earned runs over 31 2/3 innings) while striking out 35. Did he learn from that incident?

"I think you have to have pride," Zambrano said. "All players have to have pride. I was embarrassed by what I did to one of my teammates. I was embarrassed. I said, 'That's enough. ... I'm an All-Star. I'm a good pitcher and I have to settle down and shut it off and start a new season and start a new rally going.'"

He's done just that....

...Zambrano may have done well with Bowen, and catcher Koyie Hill, but he does miss Barrett, traded to the Padres on Wednesday.

"It's sad," Zambrano said. "Nobody wants to be traded. I know he didn't want to be traded. It's sad to watch him go. I wish him the best. It's sad, because he was my teammate. He was the guy behind you for four years. He's a good guy, great guy."

Here's the article: http://mlb.mlb.com/news/gameday_recap.jsp?ymd=20070622&content_id=2042697&vkey=recap&fext=.jsp&c_id=chc.

Lastly, I found another Christian athlete's website, this time San Antonio Silver Stars Ruth Riley's: http://www.ruthriley.com/.