Barrett Kleinknecht has been a Christian all his life. After all, Christian is his middle name. But he was 15 when he became one.
“My youth pastor was preaching one Sunday. I felt the Lord moving in my heart and that is when I accepted Him,” said Kleinknecht, who grew up in South Florence Baptist Church, Florence, S.C.
“I was always around church. I knew what it meant. Then one day I felt like something was missing.”
After facing struggles in college, he was listening to the pastor of South Carolina’s multi-campus NewSpring Church speak online.
“I felt like I wasn’t doing what I was supposed to be doing. I think that was the key point in my life where it turned around.”
A utility player in the Atlanta Braves organization, Kleinknecht points to Christ as why he is in the game.
“It’s not to play baseball. It’s not for my own success. It is a platform to be used to glorify God and let everybody know what God has done for me,” he said.
When he was a freshman at the College of Charleston in South Carolina, Kleinknecht was away from home for the first time.
“That is when I decided I would see what the world had to offer and I hit that one spot a lot of people hit. I started getting drunk for the first time and started doing stuff I shouldn’t have been doing. … I (eventually) failed out of the College of Charleston.”
Learning the real meaning
He went back home to Florence and enrolled in Florence-Darlington Technical College.
“It took me a year but I learned more in that one year as a Christian than I had in the first five years of being a Christian,” he said.
While it has not been easy, Kleinknecht said he would not be where he is today had he not gone through painful experiences in Charleston. As he learned more about his faith he realized where he needed and wanted to be.
“I thought I was OK because my parents were Christians. Then I found out the meaning of being a Christian,” said Kleinknecht, 26, who defines himself as being a strong and confident Christian.
His faith has enabled him to stay focused in the game he terms as a “game of failure.”
“It takes a lot to be positive,” said Kleinknecht, who played all but one week of the 2014 season with the Mississippi Braves, Atlanta’s Southern League team in Pearle, Miss.
Mississippi Braves radio announcer Kyle Tait said Kleinknecht’s attitude is unlike any other player.
“He’s always upbeat, always jovial. He is a great presence in the clubhouse who keeps spirits high. Baseball is a hard life. … It’s easy to get frustrated or discouraged. But Klank takes the harder, less-traveled road. He’s uplifting. He uses his faith to raise up those around him. That is a rare blessing in a baseball clubhouse.”
Kleinknecht knows all eyes are on him.
“You profess to be a Christian, you profess to be different. You run into a lot of guys who say they are Christians but the way they act, the way they talk, the way they carry themselves, it’s not different.
“When you have 0-for-4 days with four strikeouts you have to keep your composure. I think that is the hardest thing because everybody has a breaking point. It’s something that I pray about every single day, not for my successes but (for God to) use me to open a door and let someone see [His] love through me.”
Desiring to be an example, he walks to the plate to Sidewalk Prophets’ “These Are The Words I Would Say.” He signs autographs and adds Proverbs 3:5–6, his favorite verse.
“On player appearances I try to mention my faith,” said Kleinknecht, who attends NewSpring Church, Anderson, S.C. Accountability partners, whom he describes as “huge,” help him stay strong.
“I want to be an influence for someone, even if it is one kid that comes to a Mississippi Braves game. That one kid could be an influence. … God doesn’t want us to just be fishers of men. He wants us to be fishers of men that make fishers of men. That is my biggest goal.”
During last season he was the Braves’ top minor league utility player. He played first, second and third bases, catcher and left and right fields. He was a 2014 MiLB.com organizational All-Star.
Desiring to be a Christian who loves the Lord and “loves everybody the same,” Kleinknecht said he wants to be a “light for Him; to be the man He wants me to be. I feel like I need to show everybody what He is doing for me.”
Share with others: