By Bill Sorrell
Correspondent, The Alabama Baptist
For Oakland A’s pitcher Daniel Coulombe, faith is at the center of all he does — and it shows. However, he says, this closeness with Christ wasn’t always his reality.
Coulombe (pronounced KOO-lohm) was at Texas Tech University in Lubbock when he started his personal relationship with Christ and says his “life changed from there.”
“It took Christ four years of pruning me and me denying Him and running away from Him,” he said. “He kept pruning me and pruning me to follow Him. He completely opened my eyes to Him and it became a blessing. That day when I was 22 years old is when I gave my life to Him and started trusting Him … ever since it’s not the most glamorous thing or easiest thing walking in Christ but it’s the most fulfilling thing.”
Part of the “pruning” process was a series of injuries Coulombe sustained, beginning in college.
Although he was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers out of high school in 2008 in the 17th round, he chose to play at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles on a scholarship instead. There he ran into health issues that affected his athletic performance.
He soon transferred to South Mountain Community College in Phoenix, Arizona, and sustained a shoulder injury in the first inning of the season. He would later have shoulder surgery and he began to feel like he was about to strike out of baseball altogether.
He then enrolled at Texas Tech but on March 11, 2011, tore a ligament in his pitching elbow and underwent surgery to repair the tear.
He recovered and was able to return for the 2012 season, where Coulombe was 1–0 in 10 games with a 2.53 ERA. He was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers later that year.
Coulombe played with the Dodgers’ Minor League from 2012 through 2014 and then pitched his first Major League game with the team in September 2014. That season he was traded to Oakland to initially play with the Nashville Sounds of the Pacific Coast League, eventually getting promoted to pitch for the A’s in 2016.
“Jesus is the reason why I am here,” said Coulombe, a left-hander who is one of the best relievers in Major League Baseball. “He is the reason why I play baseball. He has blessed me with this ability.”
Former Chattanooga Lookouts manager Razor Shines called Coulombe one of the “better people” and said those around him “are fortunate.” He observed Coulombe’s faith in action.
“He lives it,” Shines said. “He walks it. It’s on his sleeves. He walks to the light. He does everything correctly and if he doesn’t, nobody is going to believe it anyway because he is that good of a person.”
While admitting it is tough sometimes to be a Christian, Coulombe prays that teammates will see Jesus when they look at him.
“I want them to say that you can tell that he enjoys being here — he smiles all the time, he enjoys coming to the ballpark and you can tell there is something different about him,” he said.
Coulombe says that being part of the major leagues has provided him with a public way to exhibit his faith.
“It’s a great platform,” he said. “People look up to you and you don’t know exactly what God has in store for you, but definitely while you are doing this you enjoy it and use it to show Christ, to love Him and to bring others to Christ.”
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