GABE’S SONG

By Bruce Darnall

Every time Gabe Gross, outfielder of the Tampa Bay Rays, approaches home plate for his turn at bat in Tropicana Field, the music played as “Gabe’s Song” is the Christian song “Blessed Be Your Name” by Matt Redman. To Gabe, it has a clear Christian message, and it is a chance to share the importance of his Christian faith. As his mother, Betty, a former elementary teacher, stated, “Gabe has a real passion for sports, but he also has a real passion for his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” As Gabe puts it: “When I hear the song, it takes me to the part of the song where he sings how the Lord gives and the Lord takes away, and still he sings blessed be the name of the Lord. I pray for that attitude in all circumstances whether the Lord gives or takes away, in my heart I can honor Him and praise Him.”

Gabe grew up in a home where values and faith were very important. Lee and Betty Gross of Dothan, Alabama, raised their two sons, Bo and Gabe, in the Southern Baptist Church tradition; and at every stop the Gross’ made, they found a church home to help nurture the boys in their faith.

Gabe, at a very early age, became a sponge wanting to absorb Bible stories and verses and to learn the message of Jesus and the way to heaven. Gabe’s mother tells the story when in second grade and living in Panama City, Florida, there was a free reading time at school and kids could bring books from home. Gabe took his Bible. He took some flack for that, but he just rolled with it. The family moved back to Dothan, Alabama, and at Sunday school the teacher asked kids if anyone wanted to say a prayer. Gabe was the only one willing. “I remember the time,” she continues, “after spending a lot of time talking about why Jesus came to earth to be the savior of the world, Gabe said, ‘it was lucky Jesus came, now we don’t have to go out to find lambs to kill.’ Wow, what comes from the mind of a child. Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice and now we don’t need another one.”

Gabe continued to read and ask questions. At night Gabe’s mother would come in for his bedtime prayer, and they would spend time talking about God’s plan of salvation and what needs to be done to be “saved” and receive eternal life.

At nine years old Gabe felt he was ready to make a commitment of faith. The Gross family was living in Lynn Haven, Florida, and attending the First Baptist Church. Rev. Dennis Pledger was pastor and a sports lover who Gabe seemed to gravitate to. One Sunday during the Sunday altar call, Gabe got up and went forward to make his commitment of faith. Pastor Pledger took Gabe to his office after the service to talk and to make sure Gabe understood the commitment. “I want to be a follower of Christ and I want to be saved,” Gabe told him. “We prayed and I accepted Christ as my Savior.”

Gabe explains, “People ask how much a nine-year-old can understand of the plan of salvation. A nine-year-old does not understand all the issues; but one can understand that to be saved one has to accept Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. Jesus was on this earth, died on the cross for me, and rose from the dead.” One of Gabe’s favorite verses is John 14:16, “Jesus said, ‘I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’”

Gabe has been in sports all of his life; he was always outside playing baseball or shooting hoops. He was always competing against his brother, Bo, who was three years older and played varsity football at Texas Christian University. It certainly helped Gabe by playing against good competition as well as learning from it. Organized football did not come into his life until his seventh grade, although Little League started earlier. His father, Lee, played center four years at Auburn University and was the sixth pick in the second round of the NFL draft. He went on to play professional football, three years (1976-78) for the New Orleans Saints and one year (1979) with the Baltimore Colts before his knees took him out of the game.

At Northview High School in Dothan, Gabe excelled in sports, especially football (three years), baseball (three years), and basketball (two years). Gabe was placed on the All-Regional (Super 12) team once each in football and baseball. He was on honor roll and he was captain of his Fellowship of Christian Athletes huddle his senior year.

After an excellent high school career, Gabe was recruited by Auburn University. Coach Terry Bowden wanted Gabe to play football and Coach Hal Baird wanted him for baseball. Gabe attended summer baseball camps at Auburn and was acquainted with Coach Baird. Both coaches approved the two sport effort with football offering the scholarship. As a true freshman in football, Gabe came into the third game of the year for the injured starting quarterback to finish out the game against eventual national champion Tennessee. He went on to start six games for Auburn in 1998 where he passed for 1,222 yards and threw for seven touchdowns.

In the spring Gabe had a great season in baseball, earning freshman All-American honors. As a freshman Gabe batted .366 with seven home runs. As a sophomore, he batted .430 with 13 home runs and was awarded All SEC and All-American. His junior year, Gabe finished with a .330 average, 15 home runs and All SEC. He made second team All-Academic his junior year.

Lee shares, “I will always remember the spring of 1999 of his freshman year. Football had its spring practice game and Gabe had a great game where he was the game MVP. As soon as the game was over, he went across the street, put on his baseball uniform, and started and played for the Tigers’ baseball team. Gabe got the game winning hit to beat Ole Miss. That day was pretty special.”

That spring of his freshman year during baseball, new football coach Tommy Tuberville and Gabe met to discuss his involvement with baseball and his chances of playing football in the fall. Tuberville indicated Gabe needed to concentrate on football. Coach Baird told Gabe that pro scouts were asking him if Gabe was going to play baseball or football.

By the third football game his sophomore year, Coach Tuberville was looking to go in a different direction. Gabe saw the writing on the wall. With fall baseball just beginning, Gabe chose to drop football and take the baseball scholarship and concentrate on baseball. “Gabe absolutely loved both football and baseball, and it was a very tough decision for Gabe to make,” Lee says. “But he had to choose one sport and go with it. He chose baseball, and I feel he made a good choice.”

Lance Cormier, a Rays’ teammate and fellow Christian, says, “As a player, Gabe was an All-American type player for Auburn and I was a pitcher for the University of Alabama, arch rivals in the SEC conference. Gabe was one of their best players who could really do everything, so it was always a great challenge and a battle in those games the three years we played each other.”

While at Auburn, Gabe continued to grow in his spiritual life. As a freshman, he attended meetings sponsored by Campus Crusade for Christ and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA). By his junior year there were so many Christian baseball coaches and baseball players they ended up having their own fellowship and Bible studies. By then, Coach Baird retired and was replace by Coach Steve Renfro; plus, the pitching coach was Coach Mark Fuller. Coaches Renfro and Fuller were very strong believers whose lives reflected their love for Jesus. Gabe also spent time talking and sharing with Athletes in Action director Dave Reid.

Gabe, a business management major, had three really good years of baseball at Auburn. He was hopeful that it would take him to the next level. In June of 2001, after his junior year at Auburn, Gabe was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the first round. He spent his first one and a half months in the Florida State League, a high Single A baseball, with Dunedin Blue Jays; then, the last couple of weeks he was with the Knoxville (Tennessee) Smokies at Double A ball.

The off season after his first professional season Gabe went back to Auburn to continue to work on his game. During the winter Gabe was introduced to Kelly Gesch , a sophomore co-ed at Auburn, through some mutual friends. “I was attracted to Gabe because of his character and he was a man of God,” Kelly says. “As time went along, I sensed he would be perfect to be the leader of our household one day.”

Kelly, who played a little softball and soccer in high school, says she was “really oblivious to it all. I had no clue when it came to big-time sports, especially football or baseball, or even to Gabe’s involvement at Auburn. I only knew him after he was in the minors leagues,” she says. “I had considered trying out to be a Tigerette hostess for Auburn football, and I wanted to talk to someone who knew Auburn football. My mother told me I had the perfect person in Gabe, that he played football at Auburn.”

Actually, attending Auburn was not supposed to be. Her family went to Florida State University (FSU), and she just assumed she would too. After a visit, she wasn’t sure if FSU was the one. Her father, now a retired colonel in the Air Force, had visited the Auburn campus and was impressed. Following his suggestion to visit, Kelly fell in love with Auburn.

Gabe and Kelly dated for a year and became engaged. After a ten-month engagement, Kelly graduated with a marketing degree in December, 2003, and they were married on January 10, 2004.

Gabe spent 2002 season at Double A Knoxville which gave Kelly a chance to visit Gabe. The 2003 season the Blue Jays moved their Double A team to New Haven, Connecticut, where he played for the Ravens until they moved him up to the Triple A Syracuse Sky Chiefs. The fall of 2003 was pretty special when he was on the Olympic qualifying team which included the likes of Minnesota Twins MVP Joe Mauer and others who made it to the big leagues. Gabe says, “It was quite an honor to represent the USA. I felt quite proud; and, when they played the national anthem, it was a thrilling moment.”

For the start of 2004 and for most of the season, Gabe was at Syracuse, but he was called up to Toronto on August 6. His major league debut was on August 7 against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium. With Kelly, Kelly’s parents Wolfgang and Joan Gesch, and his parents in the stands, Gabe recorded his first major league hit in his first major league at bat with an infield single. Two days later, Gabe hit his first major league home run against the Yankees with a two-run homer on a 5-4 win for Toronto. “My parents planned to fly home so I only left tickets for Kelly and her parents,” Gabe says. “When my parents got to the airport, Dad asked the airline if they had a later flight which they did. Unbeknownst to me, they got a seat in the outfield not far from me. Later in the game, I hit my first major league home run, and Kelly, Kelly’s parents, and my parents were all there. That was really special.” On September 5 against Oakland, Gabe hit his first grand slam home run and had a career best five RBIs.

Gabe spent most of the 2005 season back at Triple A Syracuse where he batted .297 with 6 HRs and 46 RBIs in 102 games. He was named the Blue Jays minor league star of the month twice, in July and August. He played in 20 games in Toronto during four separate stints with the Blue Jays. The 2005 off-season found Gabe being traded to the Milwaukee Brewers.

With the Brewers in 2006, Gabe played in 117 games with a .274 average, 9 HRs, and 38 RBIs. It was with the Brewers where he found several “like minded” teammates. He and Brian Shouse connected because of their Christian faith. Brian, now a teammate with the Rays, states, “Gabe has been a great friend that started back in Milwaukee. He is a fine baseball player, but he also is a strong believer in Jesus Christ. He has helped me to grow in my faith as well as building my confidence to speak and share my faith. We have a lot in common and it has been fun being together as teammates again.” That year Gabe recorded his first hit as a Brewer with a pinch-hit two-run home run which makes him only the fifth player in Brewer history to homer in his first at-bat with the team.

The 2007 season saw Gabe on the Major League roster for the Brewers. He was sent to Nashville before being brought back up to Milwaukee. Gabe hit his first two-homer game against the Phillies and he hit his second grand slam. While at Nashville he batted .355.

Gabe started the 2008 season with the Brewers but was traded to the Tampa Bay Rays on April 23. He batted .242 and played in 127 games, playing most of them in right field but seeing time in all three outfield positions. He hit a career-high 13 HRs with three walk-off RBIs, tying him with Fred McGriff for the club record for a single season. One of them was an 11^th inning single off Yankee closer Mariano Rivera for Gabe’s first career game-ending hit.

Gabe found fellowship with Christians in the Rays clubhouse, however, it has been his teammates who have found Gabe to be a strong Christian influence. “Gabe is one of the most solid Christians I have been around,” Lance Cormier says. “He knows the Scriptures. We have a core group of guys who have Bible study together, and Gabe and Ben Zobrist are the ones that guys go to because they are strong in [their knowledge of] the Word. Gabe is strong in his beliefs and does not waiver in any way.”

Ben Zobrist adds, “Gabe has been a huge help for me in my walk with the Lord. He has been a faithful man of God, an honest man and a man of integrity. I look up to him on how strong he holds the truth up. When we get together in Bible study, I value his opinions, and I talk to him as much as possible on spiritual matters.”

The 2008 season was a dream season with the Rays winning the American League Championship and going to the World Series. “The World Series was quite an experience. The media frenzy and pressure was at a different level. I got in one game and drove in two runs against Jamie Moyer in a loss against the Phillies. But I was proud of the accomplishments the team achieved last year.”

The 2009 season had its ups and downs. In the middle of the season Gabe played fairly steady, and he felt he contributed to the team even though the team faced injuries. As the injured teammates recovered, there was less opportunity. However, there was one very special event that happened this year and that was the birth of Allie. Cormier says, “It was really neat seeing Gabe go through this transition in life. When Allie came and he became a father, Gabe was so full of joy and happiness. He cares so much for his family.”

Gabe sees sports, especially baseball, as his ministry. His mother says, “To Gabe, God has given him ability to play sports, and he uses sports as a ministry to witness for the Lord. He still feels this way. It is a way to reach people for Christ and to model a lifestyle that is often not seen. The song that is played when he goes to bat is a strong Christian song. He is a follower of Jesus Christ who happens to play professional baseball.”

In the off season, Gabe, Kelly, and Allie reside in Auburn, Alabama, and they are members of Opelika Baptist Church. Gabe takes time to speak to church groups, FCA functions, youth groups and conferences. He agreed to be a speaker for a TV ad against tobacco use. “When I was with Toronto, I had the song ‘I Can Only Imagine’ by Mercy Me, where he sings that he can only imagine what it’s like going to heaven and to meet Christ face to face and he says clearly the name of Jesus,” Gabe says. “When I was in Milwaukee, I started using ‘I Can Only Imagine,’ then I brought in ‘Blessed Be Your Name.’ When I came to the Rays, I used just ‘Blessed Be Your Name.’”

Gabe says another favorite Bible verse of his is Proverbs 3:5-6: “’Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.’ I try to be aware through baseball and all of life who I am representing. The song ‘Blessed Be Your Name’ was chosen because it is a statement of who I represent. I represent my wife and daughter, our families, Auburn, and the state of Alabama which I love, but most of all I represent the Lord Jesus Christ. The song magnifies God, and it states in the song ‘Blessed Be the Name of the Lord.’”

Bruce Darnall is a freelance writer from Lake Mills, Wisconsin

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