Royals GM shares his testimony
Overland Park, KS—Dayton Moore, the general manager of the Kansas City Royals, gave his testimony during three Easter morning worship services at First Family Church. He started by talking about his brief career in baseball, which included a stint with an independent professional team and as a coach, but he quickly transitioned into his talking about his faith.
“As wonderful a decision as it was for me to naturally want to be in baseball, the greatest decision that I ever made as a little boy was to accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior,” Moore told the audience. “And I’m so thankful that I had a mother and a father who knew that being in Sunday school was an important part of their son’s education and life.”
This is Moore’s first full season with the team. He was hired on May 30, 2006 to rebuild a franchise that has lost 100 games or more in four of the past five seasons. He brought a history of success with him from the Atlanta Braves, where he served as the assistant general manager to former Royals General Manager John Schuerholz. The Braves won the National League East division title nine years in a row while Moore was there.
But he brings more than just a history of winning.
“I learned as a young coach that if you’re simply motivated by praise, which are wins, you’re going to be defeated in criticism, which are loses,” Moore said. “Being in baseball has helped me understand the importance of living a consistent life. I realized very very early that I can’t live a consistent life unless I’m in the Word daily, balancing my life, relying on Jesus every step of the way.”
Moore spoke about the importance of being mindful as a Christian to the way he responds to criticism.
“How I respond to those criticisms, how I respond with my actions, is a testimony to who I am,” Moore told the audience. “And I can tell you without a doubt, it is absolutely impossible for me to respond in a godly manner with the words that I speak, the actions that I take, and the decisions that I make to surround myself with the appropriate people unless I’m walking daily with Jesus.”
Mike Sweeney, the Royals’ designated hitter, says he’s seen evidence of Moore’s consistent walk with Christ.
“Dayton definitely lives his faith out,” Sweeney said, “He’s not a guy who’s going to corner everyone he meets and share with them about the gospel, but he’s a guy who’s going to live out his faith at all times. We have a mutual friend, who’s the team chaplain for the Atlanta Braves named Tim Cash, and Timmy really took Dayton under his wing while he was in Atlanta and really mentored him and fed him and helped him become the man that he is.”
Moore concluded his testimony by saying that he relies heavily on people he associates with to keep him strong.
“I found that being around strong Christian men, men who are leaders, men who are accountable who can look at Dayton Moore with a critical eye and not a critical spirit, have been just so so vitally important to my walk and to my faith,” Moore said. “And it really has given me great confidence to take risks in my life and to make decisions that I know are going to be unpopular.”