Baseball Stars Jackson, Ethan Holliday Play ‘for an Audience of One’
By Movieguide® Contributor
During a recent interview with Sports Spectrum, brothers Jackson and Ethan Holliday, up-and-coming baseball stars, explained how they balance their faith with their baseball careers.
Jackson was drafted as the Baltimore Orioles’ No. 1 overall pick in 2022 and was named Baseball America’s Minor League Player of the Year last season. Meanwhile, Ethan, a junior in high school, is currently ranked as the top MLB draft prospect. Amidst these high accolades, the brothers manage to keep their focus on Christ and allow Him to dictate their lives.
“I feel like I’ve done a pretty decent job [of keeping a focus on my faith],” Jackson told the Sports Spectrum podcast. “I think being able to have your faith and being able to just kinda realize that everything is a plan and God has a plan for you. I think that makes it pretty easy for me.”
“I’m like, ‘Okay, I’m gonna go out there, and I’m gonna compete, and I’m gonna do everything in my ability to succeed, but at the end of the day, like, if I do fail this, there is a purpose for that.’ So I think that’s something that I’ve learned,” Jackson continued.
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Ethan holds a similar mindset, which allows him to succeed even when all eyes are on him as he dominates high school baseball.
“I think something that helps me is thinking, ‘I have an audience of one,’” Ethan explained. “I’m doing it for the Lord; He’s truly all that matters in my life. If I fail, if I succeed, I mean, it’s under His power.”
To help give their baseball careers over to the Lord and keep Him present in the game, the brothers both have developed routines that continually orient themselves towards Christ.
“Something that I do in my routine is I always pray during the National Anthem and every time I get up to the plate. So, I think that’s something that keeps me grounded in knowing that, like, I’m not here without the Lord. I’m not in this position without the Lord,” Jackson said.
“I know that life can get really fast, and sometimes, you can lose that focus, but just to be able to keep myself grounded each and every day, because I know that the one thing I’ll be doing is playing baseball, and being able to just sit back and rely on and lean on the Lord in that department, makes the game a whole lot easier,” Jackson continued.
Similarly, Ethan has built-in routines to keep his mind on the Lord at all times.
“Every day, [I pray] to the Lord very intimately, like, I mean, I’m shutting everything off. It’s quiet, and it’s just me and the Lord every day, once or twice a day. Listening to praise and worship music, I love music like Jackson said, and I pray for my team every game, so I take them down the line, and we pray in a circle,” Ethan said. “And then I do the prayer during the National Anthem, and it’s just little things like that.”
“I like to talk to my teammates about the Lord. Any time I can get a chance to talk to my teammates about the Lord I do and it’s really cool,” Ethan added. “It’s cool what’s going on with the younger generation and I’m really excited to see what happens.”
Both brothers post about their faith on social media.
Following a missions trip Jackson and his wife took, they posted, “Seeing these sweet people live out this verse has been so impactful! The joy that they have is unmatched! And the love the boys have for baseball is incredible and their talent puts a smile on your face! Jax and I are so grateful to have gone on this trip with @compassion.”
Last summer, Ethan posted, “Rejoice always,” along with a series of baseball photos.
Movieguide® previously reported:
For Baltimore Orioles shortstop Jackson Holliday, faith comes before baseball.
In a 2022 appearance on the “Sports Spectrum Podcast,” he discussed where his faith came from and when it became important to him.
“I’d say just the past—maybe last summer and definitely this summer—it’s been more important for me because…I was on my own recently,” Holliday said. “Traveling in the summer, I mean, it gets a little lonely, and you always have God. He’s always right there with you, so it’s been more important than it was kind of growing up.”
When asked what he is most grateful for, he didn’t hesitate to say God’s favor.
“I’d say just, Jesus died on the cross for our sins because we’re obviously not perfect, and we sin a lot,” the athlete said. “For Him to love us so much, for Him to send his only Son to die for us, I am forever grateful for that.”
