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Oakland Athletics prospect Grant Desme is retiring from baseball to enter the priesthood.
Desme was recently selected the 2009 Arizona Fall League MVP and was considered one of the top prospects in Oakland's system. The 23-year-old outfielder batted .288 with 31 homers, 89 RBIs and 40 stolen bases in 131 games at Class-A Kane County and Stockton last season. He hit .315 with a league-leading 11 home runs and 27 RBI in 27 games in the fall league.
Desme said he'd been thinking about the priesthood for a year and a half.
"It took me a while to get to," he said on a conference call Friday. "I love the game, but I aspire to higher things."
Oakland Athletics prospect Grant Desme is retiring from baseball to enter the priesthood.
Desme was recently selected the 2009 Arizona Fall League MVP and was considered one of the top prospects in Oakland's system. The 23-year-old outfielder batted .288 with 31 homers, 89 RBIs and 40 stolen bases in 131 games at Class-A Kane County and Stockton last season. He hit .315 with a league-leading 11 home runs and 27 RBI in 27 games in the fall league.
Desme said he'd been thinking about the priesthood for a year and a half.
"It took me a while to get to," he said on a conference call Friday. "I love the game, but I aspire to higher things."
Desme plans to enter a seminary in August and hopes eventually to become a Catholic priest.
"It's about a 10-year process," he said. In a way, he added, it's like "re-entering the minor leagues."
Desme told Oakland general manager Billy Beane about his decision on Thursday.
"We respect Grant's decision and wish him nothing but the best in his future endeavors," Athletics general manager Billy Beane said in a statement.
Desme was a second-round pick selection in the 2007 draft after being named Big West Player of the Year at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
"It's about a 10-year process," he said. In a way, he added, it's like "re-entering the minor leagues."
Desme told Oakland general manager Billy Beane about his decision on Thursday.
"We respect Grant's decision and wish him nothing but the best in his future endeavors," Athletics general manager Billy Beane said in a statement.
Desme was a second-round pick selection in the 2007 draft after being named Big West Player of the Year at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
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To Fr. Feely,6:26 PM. Thank you for your inciteful baseball comment here. It demonstrates the baseball mentality we must deal with here in Chicago. I was going to compliment you on the courage it must have taken to put your ignorance in
print here for all to see, but then I realized that you didn't use your own name. Typical punk, coward.
As for you Grant, congratulations on your character and courage, and sacrifice. It is my hope that your call is indeed, a true vocation. My prayers are with you. God Bless.
I wonder how many more people he would have been able to touch had he stayed in baseball, reached his full potential (maybe the major leagues), and then became a priest? God gives all of us special talents, and it seems as if he might be wasting a gift from above. However, it is also a blessing to give ones life in service to the Lord and I wish him the best.
I'm not sure his statistics project into success as a priest. The scouts say he looks like a priest in his cassock and surplice, but I think his communion-host-per-mass ratio is going to have to improve considerably for any of the major league Archdioceses to take a chance.
I watched Grant play at Kane County last year and he is a fantastic player who could flat-out rake at the plate and more than likely had a bright future in baseball. I also got to talk to him several times and found him to be a nice guy who is very thoughtful and introspective. No doubt he had been thinking about this for a long time. Best of luck in his new calling.
It takes a real "call" to walk away from the adulation, fame and money that probably would have been his if he had continued in baseball. Looks like he was on his way to the big leagues. He will get criticized by those who don't have a clue to his life and beliefs. Good luck young man.
Wow. He definietly had a calling, and he must follow it. I am sure he will be successful as a priest. God bless him.
God Bless him, he had a calling, great to hear!
Life is not about money and fame....