Nashville Sounds minor league Brewer Hicklen, a Huntsville native and UAB alumnus, made history on Saturday by baptizing teammate Wes Clarke after the Sounds’ 4-1 win over the Memphis Redbirds.
The baptism was conducted on the field moments after the game’s end with permission from the Sounds’ front office. Several baseball veterans described the ceremony as one of the most unique experiences they’d ever witnessed.
“The assistant GM (Doug Scopel) was like, ‘Man, I’ve been doing this for 25 years and have never seen this happen before.’ He was happy with it,” Hicklen told Sports Spectrum. “The GM (Adam English) texted me after and was like, ‘Man, that was awesome.’ It was pretty cool. I had several fans email me. It was cool, it was a powerful moment.”
“Had the privilege of being baptized yesterday on the field by one of my good friends @brewerhicklen after our game,” Clarke wrote on Instagram. “Thank you Jesus for this amazing moment in my life. I am incredibly blessed to be surrounded by so many supportive people. It was such a special night!”
Throughout the season, I’ve prayed continuously for God to open doors for his kingdom to be expanded.
I’m so proud of Wes for making the decision to go public with his faith.
We all are sinners who need a savior. And through the grace of God, we have that in Jesus! 🙏🏼 https://t.co/aw2Fid9AHV pic.twitter.com/KDAy1EDsR1
— Brewer Hicklen (@brewerhicklen) July 10, 2024
“Throughout the season, I’ve prayed continuously for God to open doors for his kingdom to be expanded,” Hicklen posted on social media. “I’m so proud of Wes for making the decision to go public with his faith.”
“We all are sinners who need a savior. And through the grace of God, we have that in Jesus!”
Hicklen estimated that roughly half of the stadium’s fans stayed to watch the ceremony, along with all of the Sounds players and several members of the Redbirds.
“We had a team meeting before the game and I was like, ‘Hey guys, you may be a Christian, you may not; you may support what we’re doing, you may not. But I think it’d be really cool if you guys were there to support Wes as a teammate,’” Hicklen said. “Everyone was like, ‘Yeah man, we’re all about it.’ So everybody stuck around.”
Hicklen, who graduated from UAB in 2017, spent the first five years of his professional baseball career in the Kansas City Royals organization, briefly joining the big league club in 2022. He was traded to the Phillies last August before signing with the Brewers organization in the winter, a decision he says was driven by faith.
“I just asked God, ‘Place me somewhere where You feel like I could have some influence and have some opportunity to make eternal connections with some teammates,’” Hicklen told Sports Spectrum.
Charles Vaughan is a contributing writer for Yellowhammer News.
