War Cry - May, 2015 Page 20

BASEBALL:

Steven Souza

The War Cry | MAY 2015

HIT 18 HOME RUNS
and recorded a .350
batting average
playing in 2014

WINNER of the
Triple�A MVP
award in 2014

PLAYED IN 21
major league games
in 2014 and hit
two home runs

Excerpted and reprinted with permission from The Christian Post.

FTER DEVELOPING A BAD REPUTATION

in the minor leagues for his me-first attitude,

addiction to partying and use of a perfor-

mance enhancing drug, Major League Base-

ball outfielder Steven Souza Jr. reports

that it wasn't until he finally found

God that he was able to turn his personal life and playing
career completely around.

Souza, a 25 year old now playing

for the Tampa Bay Rays, began his
professional baseball career in
2007 when he was drafted by the
Washington Nationals.

Souza admits that he was cocky

and arrogant in his younger minor
league days, failing to hit a respect-
able batting average and make it
any higher than A-ball in his first
four seasons in the minor leagues.

Souza was promoted to the Sin-

gle-A Potomac Nationals for the
2011 season. Although Souza got

off to a good start, his attitude did
not change.

Souza's attitude began shifting

after he discovered that his then-
girlfriend cheated on him with one
of his teammates, a close friend.
Souza went into a stark depression.
"It just seemed the whole world
came crashing down at that point,"
Souza explained. He walked out on
his team and considered quitting
baseball altogether. He used his
time off to reflect on the direction of
his life. "I was at a crossroads,"

God Made

the

Man

I Am Today

Souza said. "It was like, I need to
make adjustments in my life right
now. Nobody wants to be around
me. People don't respect me."

A friend told Souza that he could

find the answers that he was look-
ing for in faith. Another friend, for-
mer MLB outfielder Brent
Lillibridge, also told him that he
should look to God for answers. Lil-
libridge and Souza both live in
Washington, so Lillibridge invited
Souza to come to church one Sun-
day. Souza accepted the invitation,

Photo by Dennis Maffezzoli