During the 2009 SEC Baseball Tournament a future first-round draft pick was ready to quit.
An All-American third baseman at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Zack Cox was a day away from striking baseball out of his life.
However, a testimony by five-time Major League All-Star Travis Fryman made him re-think his decision.
“He came in and he started telling his testimony about his faith and how he came to Christ. When he said, ‘I realized I had given my life to Christ when I was young but I had never given God my career,’ chills went up and down my body,” Cox said.
“I could feel God telling me, ‘Hey, you have never given Me your career’ so I … gave my career to Christ. The next day I felt joy and peace playing baseball whereas before I only felt fear and anxiety.”
In 2010, Cox, then a sophomore at Arkansas, had a banner year. His 102 hits, including 75 singles, were both school single-season records. He hit nine home runs and had 48 RBIs.
The Razorbacks advanced to the NCAA Super Regionals. Cox was a team captain. A communications major, Cox was named ESPN The Magazine’s Academic All-District 6 first team. He was a first-team All-American.
Cox was drafted in the first round by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2010 Major League Baseball Draft. As the 25th overall selection, Cox was the fourth highest pick in school history and sixth Arkansas player drafted in the first round.
Left-handed hitter
Cox played for four St. Louis minor league teams before being traded to the Miami Marlins in 2012. Cox is finishing the 2015 season with the New Orleans Zephyrs, his third time there since 2013.
He was promoted to the Triple-A Pacific Coast League team in August after playing 103 games with the Jacksonville Suns in the Double-A Southern League.
Before his trade, Cox, a left-handed hitter, was third in the Southern League with a batting average of .321. He was named to the South Division All-Star team. This season Cox, in his third stint with the Suns, scored 47 runs, had 105 hits including 19 doubles, a triple, four home runs and 27 RBIs.
“In baseball there is so much failure and I think in that failure you can show how you deal with adversity. You deal with tough times with the face of Christ, with the way He would have. Sometimes it is really hard. Sometimes I am not very good at it. I do my best,” said Cox, 26.
“You have to wake up every day and grab your cross. You’ve got to stay in the Bible. You have got to talk to God. You have to pray and have got to have fellowship with Him.”
Overcoming worry, fear and anxiety have been done through prayer, Bible reading, worship, time with Christians and staying strong spiritually.
Cox began cultivating his faith at age 8. Raised by Christian parents Jim and Sandra Cox, he became a Christian and was baptized at Campbellsville Baptist Church in Kentucky.
“Later on in life I went through the struggles that most people do. When you are 8 years old, you don’t really know what to expect,” Cox said.
During the off-season, Cox works with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (see story, pages 4–5) huddle group and baseball team at Rogers High School in Arkansas where he and his wife, Tiffany, live. They attend Fellowship Bible Church there.
“When you give your life to God, you have to give Him everything. It is not just giving Him one part. You can’t keep one part — it’s everything.
“When you are a Christian, you are not of the world. You are wanting to do things for Christ. It is denying myself and following Jesus. It is just simply turning away from what my natural body wants which is sin.”
That teammates see Christ in Cox is a goal along with sharing the Great Commission.
“I am obviously not perfect but I think the best way to share Christ is to live your life in such a way that you are a fragrant aroma to those around you and they want to know what is different about you. It opens up a chance to share your faith.”
Jacksonville center fielder Kenny Wilson said that Cox is a “huge Christian. He is a Christ follower. Every time we run a Bible study, he is always bringing good information to the table. The way he gets the Word out is pretty special.”
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