Atlanta Braves star thanks God after World Series win: 'I wouldn’t be here without Him'
Following a World Series victory, Atlanta Braves shortstop Dansby Swanson gave thanks to God and expressed gratitude for his opportunity to play on the team.
The Atlanta Braves beat the Houston Astros in Game 6 of the 2021 Major League Baseball World Series Tuesday night, clinching the franchise's first world title since 1995.
Swanson, 27, attributed his opportunity to play in the 2021 World Series to God's plan specifically for him.
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In an interview with Fox Sports shortly after the win, Swanson credited his being a part of the 2021 Braves team to destiny, stressing that "the Good Lord" has "blessed me so much." He declared that "I wouldn't be here without Him" and described "the peace that He gives me" as "remarkable."
"In moments like this, you can never go wrong trusting in that," he added. "I'm just so thankful to be here."
The home town kid has done it!@LieutenantDans7 is a World Series Champion with the @Braves! #BattleATLpic.twitter.com/Psg2AsgOjo
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) November 3, 2021
Swanson previously discussed his faith in an interview with Fox Sports after his team won game four of the World Series Saturday night.
Swanson was asked to describe his emotions as the team was only one win away from a World Series victory. He also weighed in on how he was traded from the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2015 to the Braves, a team he admired as someone who grew up in the Atlanta area.
"I'm just so thankful to be here," he said. "I really can't say it enough. Getting traded over here, at the time, I didn't understand it. But God's always got a plan, and if I've learned one thing is having faith in that plan will never fail you, and it's one of the best things that's ever happened to me."
Swanson said the trade has allowed him to spend more time with his family and enabled him to meet his girlfriend.
"Being here, being able to see my family as much as I do, watching my nephews grow up. If I didn't get traded here, I would never have met Mallory here," he added. "You just start stacking things on top of each other and it's truly a blessing to be here in this city."
Swanson describes himself as a "believer" on his Twitter page. In a past interview, Swanson said he "grew up in a family that went to church on Sunday" and "faith has always been ingrained in me."
"[My faith] has grown over the years once I left home due to personal experiences and seeing more of the world," he said in an interview with His Huddle. "I have been able to grow so much more once I got out of the household and moved on to bigger and better things in the world."
Swanson is not the only athlete to give thanks to God for his athletic success. At the 2021 Olympics earlier this year, multiple American athletes expressed gratitude to God for their accomplishments.
Most notably, American hurdler and sprinter Sydney McLaughlin repeatedly pointed to God as the source of her athletic achievement during the Olympic trials and the actual competition itself.
After winning a gold medal for Team USA, McLaughlin proclaimed that she was "giving the glory to God." After setting a world record during the Olympic trials, she remarked, "I couldn't ask for anything more and truly, it is all a gift from God."
When asked if she surprised herself by winning a gold medal for the United States, American wrestler Tamyra Mensah-Stock replied: "Of course I surprise myself. It's by the grace of God that I'm even able to move my feet."
"I just leave it in His hands, and I pray that all the practice, that the Hell that my freaking coaches put me through pays off," Mensah-Stock said. "And every single time, it does."
American hurdler Keni Harrison has repeatedly thanked God throughout her athletic career.
After winning a silver medal in the 2021 Olympics, she insisted that "all the glory goes to God just to have this opportunity."
Harrison missed out on competing in the 2016 Olympics five years earlier, but she broke a world record weeks later. Harrison's pinned tweet features a video of her reaction upon discovering that she had broken the world record, accompanied by a caption reading, "I am a walking testimony of how incredible God truly is."
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: [email protected]
