Former Olivetian's story now includes World Series MVP

Former Olivetian's story now includes World Series MVP

by | 04 Nov 2016
Ben Zobrist speaking at Olivet Nazarene University, where the World Series MVP played baseball from 2001-2003.

The doors keep opening for Ben Zobrist.

The former Olivet Nazarene University baseball star and university spokesperson was part of a Major League Baseball World Series championship for the second consecutive year as the Chicago Cubs defeated the Cleveland Indians Wednesday for their first title since 1908. Zobrist was a part of the 2015 champion Kansas City Royals last year before signing with Chicago as a free agent last winter.

This year’s team accomplishment came with an individual honor as Zobrist was named World Series Most Valuable Player, in part because it was his go-ahead double in the 10th inning of Game 7 that propelled the Cubs to the win. Zobrist won a new Chevy Camaro as part of the honor.

Don't want to go to sleep yet. I'm still shocked. Thank you Lord for this special blessing. Thank you Cubs fans. #2016WorldSeriesChamps

— Ben Zobrist (@benzobrist18) November 3, 2016

Olivet became the official education partner of the Cubs organization in March. Zobrist, who played at Olivet from 2001 to 2003, was named university spokesperson.

“I would not be where I am today without Olivet and the education the university provided," Zobrist said at the time of the announcement. 

Ben, a 2004 draft pick of the Houston Astors, and his wife, Christian recording artist Julianna, both come from pastors’ homes are quick to share their faith.

According to a Kansas City Star story on Ben, the night before he left home to join the Astros’ affiliate in Troy, New York, he told his father, “I’m going to be a missionary in the big leagues.”

“It’s not this blustery, dominating, in-your-face kind of thing,” his father, Tom, told The Star. “It can be very gentle and quiet: the way you live your life, the way you treat your family, the way you treat other people …

“He lives his life and lets his actions speak.”

Ben has organized Bible studies with teammates and spoken at many events, including college and university chapels at Olivet, Trevecca Nazarene University, and Eastern Nazarene College.

Much like well-known Christian athlete Tim Tebow, Ben and Julianna use their celebrity platforms as a means to share their faith as their young family of five lives under a media microscope.

“For us, it’s been important to maintain a life that extends beyond baseball and money and our professional success,” Julianna recently told the Huffington Post. “Our faith is very important to us, and we want to help our kids grow to have unshakable faith in the God who loves them and matters most.”

In 2014, Ben and Julianna wrote an autobiographical book titled Double Play: Faith and Family First.

For Ben, learning how to balance faith and sports took shape at Olivet.

“When I came in as an athlete to Olivet, it was really important to me that there was a Christian side of the athletic programs,” he said in a 2014 interview with the university. “I was really impressed with the balance that I felt Olivet strikes between how do I be a competitor and work hard and give it everything I’ve got, but also represent Christ as I do that, and I learned some of those things from Olivet – being here around the athletic teams and the things that they stood for.”

The Nazarene connection to Zobrist, who played at Olivet under from 2001 to 2003 as a pitcher, second baseman, and shortstop, was not lost on Nazarenes on social media Wednesday night after the Cubs won.

Leave it up to the Nazarene... #WorldSeries #Olivet grad Zobrist

— Matt Price (@JaMaPrice) November 3, 2016

Ben Zobrist the Nazarene guy gets the MVP! (He went to NNU's sister school Olivet for a year) guy is a beast

— Coltin Brink (@ColtinBrink) November 3, 2016

So now @OlivetNazareneU renames itself Ben Zobrist Nazarene University, right? #BZNU #webelieveBenbelongshere

— Andrew Breeden (@andybredn) November 3, 2016

After Olivet, Zobrist played at Dallas Baptist University before starting his professional career in the Astros organization. He was traded to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays (now Rays) in 2006, then from the Rays to Oakland in January 2015. The Royals acquired Zobrist six months later. He signed a 4-year, $56 million contract with the Cubs in December.

Zobrist batted .357 in the 2016 World Series, batting in two runs. The second just happened to be the go-ahead run in extra innings of Game 7 to end a 108-year championship drought for the Cubs.

Fifteen years ago, after a $50 baseball tryout he paid for with birthday money from his grandparents, Zobrist was considering his baseball future at a school called Olivet Nazarene University.

"It really comes down to God opening the doors for me, and I'm trying to walk through them doing the best I can,” Zobrist told The Daily Herald after the 2015 championship.

"I just think there was a plan all along, and that's why I'm here.”

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