Nationals' Harper: 'I’m not going to be Mr. Tim Tebow'

As a trying season nears an unceremonious end, several members of the Washington Nationals opened up to Amanda Comak of the Washington Times about the different belief systems that guide them through life:

Bryce Harper, on his Mormon faith:

“If somebody asks me about it, I’ll tell them about it, but I’m not going to be Mr. Tim Tebow,” he said, clarifying that he does not mean that in a derogatory way.

“I’m going to try to be the best person I can off the field [and promote my faith that way]. What I say is, ‘I try to be the best walking Book of Mormon as I can.’”

Adam Laroche, on finding meaning in life:

“I asked myself: ‘Why are we here?’” LaRoche said. “I’ve asked a few people that over the years. ‘What is our purpose on this earth?’ My opinion is that it’s to spread God’s word and that’s it. And when that finally hit me, it put baseball and all that other stuff in perspective.

“I heard one chaplain put it this way: What do you want written on your tombstone? Do you want ‘Adam LaRoche: Gold Glove, batting average, hit so many homers, and has a million dollars in his bank account,’ or do you want ‘Adam LaRoche: Man of God, integrity, raised a great family, loving.’ Let’s be honest: I don’t know anybody who wants their stats.”

Ian Desmond, on how his teammates have helped facilitate his faith:

“It’s not easy to just say, ‘Hey, I’m a Christian, I’m a believer in God. I need to steer myself away from the sin of this world,’” Desmond said. “But when you have a group of guys that you’re basically brothers with and one of them says it, it’s easier for everyone else to feel like, ‘Hey, yeah, I’m a Christian, too.’ You’re not that lone duck out there. It’s a support group.”

Dan Haren, on fostering theological dialogue in the clubhouse:

“Adam [LaRoche] is one of the more open-minded people on the team,” Haren said. “A lot of people just close themselves off. You believe one way or the other, and when you hear something else you just completely block it off. [The results of that poll], I think, bother me a little bit. I don’t know why, but it just does. I don’t want to seem like I’m testing their faith or anything, but I like to understand it from an intellectual standpoint.

“I like to hear what they have to say and then I kind of take it all in and give a rebuttal. Then they take it all in and come back to me. If it ever gets to the point of them or me becoming upset, it stops right there because I think there’s certain things that are good to talk about, but this is really a workplace.”