Consider this a rare GetReligion hot-stove season baseball report. The shocker is that it is not written by our resident baseball fanatic, Bobby Ross, Jr. I guess that’s because this story concerns a member of the Baltimore Orioles, a team currently in a radical-rebuild mode (that could use a miracle or two).
This is another Baltimore Sun story about the troubled slugger Chris Davis, whose struggles at the plate have made many national headlines. It doesn’t help that Davis is (a) aging, (b) holding a first-base slot that blocks younger players and (c) a few years into a massive seven-year, $161 million contract.
I have written about Davis before. At some point in time, some powerful judge in media land appears to have made a ruling that it is out of bounds to include references to his evangelical faith in stories about his life, values, family and career.
Davis recently made big news with his pen and a checkbook and, I would argue, journalists needed to ask some faith questions in this case. But first, let’s look at a hint of faith language in a different Sun story that ran the other day: “I have hope now’: Orioles’ Chris Davis carrying confidence early in offseason.” The key is that Davis is feeling better — physically and mentally — and already getting ready for 2020.
Jill Davis noted that her husband normally takes October off, but she said Davis has been ramping up his activities to the point it won’t be long before he spends his days working out, running and hitting, all while balancing the scheduling quirks their three daughters bring. The Davises have a family trip planned for early December, plus a mission trip in January.
OK, I’ll ask. What kind of “mission trip”? A generic one?
This leads me to some big news in Baltimore, $3 million worth of news that’s totally consistent with the life that the Davis family lives: “Orioles’ Chris Davis and his wife, Jill, make record donation to University of Maryland Children’s Hospital.” Here is the overture:
Chris and Jill Davis made their way from room to room at the University of Maryland Medical Center’s pediatric intensive care unit. A visit in July inspired how the Orioles’ first baseman and his wife spent their Monday morning. This trip in the afternoon was made by choice.
They stopped by rooms of little girls who, like their three daughters, love princesses. They met two boys who, like their two youngest children, were twins. They brightened the days of families who had children, like their own once had, facing congenital heart defects.
The Davises’ visit came hours after the announcement of their $3 million donation to the University of Maryland Children’s Hospital, the largest the hospital has received from a Baltimore sports figure. The gift will go toward a state-of-the-art hybrid catheterization and operating room to treat children with congenital heart defects. The space will be called the Evelyn Kay Davis Congenital Hybrid Catheterization Suite, named after the Davises’ daughter, Evie, who was born with a ventricular septal defect in January 2018.
The Sun story did include bites of highly relevant information, such as this significant fact about Jill Davis:
Jill’s background is in nursing. She worked at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children until she and Davis moved to Baltimore the offseason after the Orioles acquired him in a trade with the Texas Rangers in 2011. She has spent time volunteering at UMHC’s newborn intensive care unit.
Also this:
Davis, 33, is the oldest and longest tenured Oriole. 2019 marked the third straight year he was Baltimore’s nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award, which honors a player’s humanitarian efforts. The Orioles’ nomination announcement referenced more than 10 organizations that Davis and Jill have assisted.
Ten organizations? Pray tell, what kinds of organizations are we talking about?
That factual information might have provided helpful information about the Davis family and its priorities. You know, “follow the money” and that kind of thing.
Veteran Baltimore sports reporter and blogger Roch Kubatko did provide that information. Anyone who covers the religion beat — or has covered Davis for a few years — can see the religion DNA in many of these names.
The couple has been cited for its devotion to charities in and around the Baltimore community, the University of Maryland Children’s Hospital, the LUNGevity Foundation, Casey Cares Foundation, Helping Up Mission, Compassion International, Maryland Food Bank, International Justice Mission, Water Missions International and Feed My Starving Children.
So what’s the point?
Basically, I am arguing that Christian faith appears to be a factor in these kinds of decisions for the Davis family. In this case, the “why?” question at the heart of this major story had multiple levels and faith was almost certainly in there. Faith affects how they spend their time, how they spend their money and how they make their decisions.
The local Fox television channel did, in its online report, include this tiny hint of what is going on:
“We are committed to showing our daughters that with great privilege comes great responsibility,” says Chris Davis. “As their father, I pray that my girls will embrace opportunities to serve others and love as they are loved. I want to encourage and empower them in hope of watching them grow into caring, compassionate, generous leaders who are inspired to help those in need.”
Would it have hurt to have included a paragraph or two about this side of the story?