JACKSON, Tenn. (BP)–Drayton McLane had two goals when he bought the Houston Astros 13 years ago.
The first was to turn the Astros into a champion. Neither the Astros nor their in-state counterparts, the Texas Rangers, had been to a World Series before, and McLane wanted to remedy that. He thought the people of Texas deserved a winner.
McLane’s still working on that objective, as the Astros haven’t yet made it to a World Series. Their best chance was last year, when they took the St. Louis Cardinals to seven games in the National League Championship Series. Since the Astros have one of the worst records in the National League so far in 2005, that goal will likely have to wait at least another year.
But the second goal is another story.
McLane, a member and deacon at First Baptist Church of Temple, Texas, was determined to use the Astros as an outreach tool. He wanted to use the team’s recognition and the role models on the roster to make a positive influence in the Houston community.
“I want to get involved and stand for spiritual values,” McLane said. “We’re trying to use the influence and recognition of the players and the team to represent noble purposes.”
McLane makes no apologies for insisting that the Astros stand for integrity, honesty and high Christian principles. That commitment can even affect personnel decisions. Although he respects the religious beliefs of everyone on the team, he expects his players to stay out of trouble.
“When players don’t behave properly, we move them on,” he said. “We have one of the best clubhouses in Major League Baseball. They’re congenial, they get along well together.”
That philosophy has led to a team full of decent men, many of whom are Christians — including Lance Berkman, Morgan Ensberg, Andy Pettitte, Adam Everett and Orlando Palmeiro, among others.
The Astros have an active community-relations department and are the only team in baseball with a fulltime chaplain. The team was involved in more than 3,000 events in Houston last year, including visits to youth groups, senior citizens groups and hospitals.
Team chaplain Gene Pemberton also conducts a team Bible study twice a week when the Astros are at home. When they’re traveling, Berkman takes over that role.
All of that is due to McLane’s influence.
“He’s very outward in being a Christian,” Ensberg said of his boss. “That’s pretty admirable. You’re in a time when some of that might be looked down upon by a lot of people, and yet he stands in the face of that.”
One of McLane’s priorities is to develop a strong relationship with his players. He’s constantly in the locker room, talking to players and showing an interest in them as people, not just as commodities to win baseball games.
“I try to get a personal relationship with every player we’ve got,” McLane said. “Know them all personally, spend time with them. I get to know all their families.”
Palmeiro can vouch for McLane’s concern for his players.
“Last year I asked for a minute of his time, and he gave me more than a minute of his time,” Palmeiro said. “He made time for me. There’s so much stuff going on, and he remembered me. I was impressed with that.”
While McLane’s goal of winning a championship has remained elusive, he’s been much more successful with his second goal. Ultimately, it’s more important than the first one anyway.
–30–
Tim Ellsworth’s column appears each week in BPSports, online at www.bpsports.net.
