Hot dogs and peanuts are familiar sights at baseball games, but fans at a recent matchup in Nashville experienced something unexpected: a baptism. After a game Saturday between the Nashville Sounds and the Memphis Redbirds, a portable baptistry was brought onto the field, where Nashville’s Brewer Hicklen baptized teammate Wes Clarke while players and fans cheered.
Clarke posted photos of the event on Instagram.
“Had the privilege of being baptized yesterday on the field by one of my good friends @brewerhicklen after our game,” Clarke wrote. “Thank you, Jesus, for this amazing moment in my life. I am incredibly blessed to be surrounded by so many supportive people. It was such a special night!”
The Sounds are the Triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. The Redbirds, also Triple-A, are affiliated with the St. Louis Cardinals. Nashville won the game, 4-1.
Both players wore “Jesus Won” shorts during the baptism.
Hicklen told Sports Spectrum he is part of a team Bible study that is focusing on Ephesians and studying what it means to be a Christian man. Sports Spectrum reported that Hicklen wanted the baptism to be held following the team’s Faith and Family Night, but Sounds officials said there was not enough time to organize a post-game baptism. Hicklen then asked if it could be held after a future game. Sounds officials said it could.
“So we got a horse trough and just filled it up with water from the field,” Hicklen told Sports Spectrum. “I’d say probably half the stadium stayed. It was pretty cool.”
The baptism event was initially scheduled to include two players: Clarke and Vinny Capra. Capra, though, was called up to the Brewers three days before the game.
It was a night to remember for Hicklen, who also hit a home run during his team’s win. The home plate umpire complimented Hicklen on the event, he said.
“We had a team meeting before the game, and I was like, ‘Hey guys, you may be a Christian, you may not; you may support what we’re doing, but you may not. But I think it’d be really cool if you guys were there to support Wes as a teammate.’ Everyone was like, ‘Yeah, man, we’re all about it.’ So everybody stuck around, it was pretty cool,” Hicklen told Sports Spectrum. “We even had a couple guys from the other team stick around.”
Photo Credit: ©Instagram/Wes Clarke
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
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