A's prospect Grant Desme is leaving baseball for the priesthood
Jan 22, 2010, 12:50 PM EDT
FOXSports.com’s Jon Paul Morosi reports that A’s outfield prospect Grant Desme is retiring from baseball at age 23 “in order to pursue the priesthood.” Seriously.
Baseball America recently ranked Desme as the team’s eighth-best prospect following a breakout season that saw him hit .288/.365/.568 with 31 homers and 40 steals in 131 games between two levels of Single-A. He followed that up by winning MVP honors in the Arizona Fall League and may have been in the A’s plans as soon as the second half of this season, so obviously this news comes as quite a shock.
This is sure to be a touchy subject, so I’ll just say this: Desme’s potential as a baseball player has never looked better and at best you can only play baseball until you’re about 40 years old, so retiring at age 23 to pursue something that can be a lifelong endeavor seems … odd.
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- SethSpeaks - Jan 22, 2010 at 12:58 PM
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I saw him play twice in the AFL this fall. He’s strong, power seems legit. This is very strange. I guess if he’s happy with it, good for him?
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- APBA Guy - Jan 22, 2010 at 1:01 PM
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The lengths players will go to avoid playing in the Mausoleum continues to astonish. He is young enough to come back should he change his mind. Or not. Best wishes to him.
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- Phil - Jan 22, 2010 at 1:04 PM
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I’m hardly a religious man, but one doesn’t pursue the priesthood. One is called to the priesthood. If Grant Desme felt that calling, age is irrelevant. It’s not analogous to going to law or medical school after your baseball career is finished.
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- Stone - Jan 22, 2010 at 1:07 PM
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Good Lord.
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- Motherscratcher - Jan 22, 2010 at 1:09 PM
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You get the call when you get the call, I guess. Good luck to the young man.
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- Greg - Jan 22, 2010 at 1:16 PM
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Why is it strange? Did you follow your dream & become the crappy reporter that you are? Not everyone is concerned with being famous or rich. Maybe it’s just what he wants for his life. Which by the way is his life & it is a free Country. Why can’t you just respect the Man’s decision, why do you have to question it. Who are you anyway?
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- Ron - Jan 22, 2010 at 1:16 PM
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They should trade him to the Padres for cash and a future miracle.
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- Floyd - Jan 22, 2010 at 1:22 PM
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Nice message, Greg. Very much in harmony with the way that Jesus handled things–insults heaped upon insults.
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- Ryan - Jan 22, 2010 at 1:23 PM
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Maybe because the A’s have been investing good money in him and had high hopes for him performing on the big stage in the near future? It’s one thing if you suck and you retire, it’s another thing entirely if you’re good.
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- Joe Tetreault - Jan 22, 2010 at 1:24 PM
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I think the best way to describe is good for him. If he felt led towards the priesthood, and ignored it, he may have regressed as a hitter. So much of the game is physical, but enough of it is mental that little things like doubting your choice to stick with the game matter.
If I may interject a football example. Braylon Edwards is said to be dispassionate about the game. Despite all the talent he has, he’s seen as an underachiever precisely because he doesn’t want it. If Grant Desme felt it was time to follow a different path, more power to him. Oaths of chastity and poverty are a far cry from the big leagues.
As Crash Davis might have said, A player on a streak has to respect the streak. You know why? Because they don’t happen very often. If you believe you’re playing well because your going to forsake baseball to become a priest then you are!
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- Jonny5 - Jan 22, 2010 at 1:25 PM
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Wow. I gues his calling from god was like “asap Grant”. Hey if the Mayans were correct this guy might be doing this just in time……..
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- moreflagsmorefun - Jan 22, 2010 at 1:28 PM
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You better say three hail mary’s for that joke,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Did you know God is a Yankee fan, well he is.
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- Jonny5 - Jan 22, 2010 at 1:29 PM
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Too true, too many “religious” people love pointing fingers and saying how wrong everyone else is….. “Thou shall not judge” is obviously up for debate with some “christians”.
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- moreflagsmorefun - Jan 22, 2010 at 1:30 PM
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The A’s trump God, Did you know God was a Yankee fan, googgle it..
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- Trevor - Jan 22, 2010 at 1:39 PM
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[i]Maybe because the A’s have been investing good money in him and had high hopes for him performing on the big stage in the near future? It’s one thing if you suck and you retire, it’s another thing entirely if you’re good.[/i]
Why?
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- The Common Man - Jan 22, 2010 at 1:43 PM
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As a fellow mackerel-snapper, I wish Desme all the best in response to his calling. While watching him play baseball would have been great fun, I’m glad he is responding to a clear shortage of priests in the United States. Good luck, Grant.
Can you imagine how good his parish softball team is going to be?
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- Old Gator - Jan 22, 2010 at 2:04 PM
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Lots of kids down here in Macondo have left promising careers in athletics to become santeras, so what’s the big deal if some guy feels like he’s been summoned to a vocation for one of the less interesting cults? Whereas it’s true that he won’t be sacrificing many goats or chickens where he’s going, he will be doing some constructive things like calling Thursday Bingo nights, and he’ll be doing lots of aerobics during Mass to keep himself in shape. On the upside, he won’t be presiding over cockfights, ratting tournaments or dogfights either, which means there’ll be a lot of temptation to dip into the tithing box.
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- TimberLee - Jan 22, 2010 at 2:21 PM
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I just don’t like to see a potentially good ballplayer doing something other than playing ball. Some of you think it’s OK if the man is doing something that makes him feel better about the world. Like Josh Hamilton?
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- Will - Jan 22, 2010 at 3:19 PM
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Good for him. Discerning a vocation is not easy for anyone, let alone for somebody who can see a chance at fame and fortune lying down the other path.
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- mtjofmcap - Jan 22, 2010 at 3:47 PM
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As a big baseball fan and someone who’s a year or two ahead of Grant on the road to the priesthood, all I can say is Godspeed. It ain’t easy, but it’s a heck (err .. hell?) of a ride.
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- terrymay - Jan 22, 2010 at 4:26 PM
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What’s up with Aaron Gleeman saying that his decision to enter a semiary was a “touchy” matter? What does that mean? I consider this a touchy subject matter at all. I think’s it’s AWESOME! Grant is pursuing something that could very well bring him exponentially more joy and happiness than hitting a baseball. Imagine that – someone turning his back on fame and fortune to respond to a call from God. A seminary is a place for discernment so it’s doesn’t mean that he’s definitely going to be a priest. A lot of seminarians leave before they get ordained. I know a bit about this as I was close to going into the seminary, and I was close to giving up a lucrative career, girls, and all the rest. I never went, and now I’m happily married and my first child was just born. All I have to say is Go Grant! The church needs people like you!
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- Avon Barksdale - Jan 23, 2010 at 5:58 AM
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He’s just another idiot sheep with the God-delusion. He did this now because he wanted the eyes of the world focused on him. Look at me world, holier and more perfect than even the typical grumpy self-righteous CTB commenter. He could have received his Advanced Pedophile Training later in life, but it’s a better life at the seminary for younger men. They get to put on musicals and braid each other’s Jesus-looking beards. They learn how the horniest and most pedophilic of them all will get to ride the roller-coaster of Perpetual Forgiveness and Continuing Reassignment.
There’s a reason Jesus likened himself to a Shepard amongst sheep and equated goats with the Devil. Sheep are fucking retarded jackholes who tend to follow each other around and do what they’re told. Goats have opinions and thoughts of their own, they’re difficult to herd because they aren’t just going to do whatever dumb-shit thing you tell them. Christians are the sheep. By the way, no Christian should ever make fun of anyone belonging to another religion. Even Scientologists, people who follow a drug-addicted rich boy and failed science fiction writer who once said “If you really want to get rich, don’t start a company, start a religion,” you can’t even make fun of those dumb, sorry sons of bitches.
The A’s are better off without him, the less piety and self-righteousness in the clubhouse the better. He must have been a lot of fun to go out with on road games.
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- Will - Jan 23, 2010 at 11:31 AM
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I’m amused by Barksdale’s denunciation of self-righteousness. It’s rare to see such a complete lack of self-awareness.
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- Jessika Judge - Jan 23, 2010 at 3:16 PM
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- MarkM - Jan 23, 2010 at 9:56 PM
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I just read up on Josh Hamilton and there is no similarity between him and Grant Desme. Josh needs all the prayers he can get.
