OMAHA, Neb. – An estimated crowd of 200 College World Series fans turned out for the 12th annual 9th Inning Ministry breakfast in Omaha Saturday morning. They heard former big leaguer Ed Hearn, Texas A&M assistant coach Mike Clement, and Texas A&M players Jacob House and Troy Stein talk about their faith journey.

Clement, a former player who went on to serve in various coaching capacities, told the audience he wasn’t always motivated by his faith. Instead, he said he was driven by the thrill of competition and the opportunity to win.

“At one point in my coaching career, the Lord sort of pushed me up against the wall and really asked me to check myself and see why I was doing what I was doing,” Clement told the audience. more >>

An increasing number of sports teams are using a similar marketing strategy to get people to come out to ballparks and arenas – faith.

Major League Baseball teams such as the Cleveland Indians, Houston Astros, Kansas City Royals and San Francisco Giants will hold, or already have held, promotions for Christian groups this season.

The Giants are also planning a Jewish Heritage and LDS Family Night. The Oakland A’s will hold a Jewish Heritage Night with fans getting an A’s yarmulke. The Philadelphia Phillies will also hold a Jewish Heritage Night. The Florida Marlins are offering an Inspirational Forum. And the Colorado Rockies will hold their fifth Faith Day for people of all faiths. more >>

On Friday, nearly a billion people around the world focused on a wedding taking place in London’s Westminster Abbey: The marriage between Prince William, second in line to the British throne, and his bride, Kate Middleton.

For months people have focused on wedding details: Who will design the wedding dress? What jewels will she wear? What food will be served at the wedding breakfast?

But maybe we’re focusing on the wrong things. As my colleague Anne Morse noted this week in National Review Online, divorces among the royals have become so common that, shortly after the engagement was announced, British bookies began taking bets about when William and Kate’s divorce would take place. more >>

Former major league pitcher Brian Bannister recently informed Japanese baseball officials he has no plans to play in Japan or the United States, according to an AP story released Tuesday. The Japan Times is saying the 30-year-old will retire.

Bannister signed a one-year, $1.8 million contract with the Yomiuri Giants during the off season. According to the Japan Times, he left Japan last month in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake and tsunami, citing fears over the nuclear crisis facing the Fukushima Daiichi plant.

The Giants placed him on the restricted list, which forbids him from playing for any other team in Japan, or anywhere else, without first resolving matters with the Giants. more >>

A minor league stop with the Triple-A Omaha Storm Chasers was not on Jeff Suppan’s itinerary this spring, but you wouldn’t know it by his actions.

The former National League Championship Series MVP, who started Game Seven of the 2006 World Series for St. Louis Cardinals, signed autographs at Werner Park in Omaha before the season home opener on Saturday and he chatted with young fans – taking special note of what their t-shirts and baseball caps said so he could ask them questions.

“I’ve always enjoyed that,” Suppan told The Christian Post. “We have a 30 second opportunity and I’ve always viewed that as a way to be positive, to connect with them. For me, growing up in California, I used to wonder where ballplayers worked out and why I never saw them. Interacting with them is a chance to show we’re all real people and I think the kids usually enjoy that.” more >>

When you hear the phrase “European royalty,” you probably think of the less-dignified antics of the British royals.

Yet there are European rulers who have distinguished themselves in more admirable fashion.

For example, Spain’s King Juan Carlos is credited with almost single-handedly saving his country’s fledgling democracy during an attempted coup in 1981. more >>