You may not remember the name, but you may recall Grant Desme’s story. He’s the former A’s phenom who turned his back on a promising major league career a few years ago to pursue priesthood.
Almost nine years later, Desme heard another calling from above and he’s left the monastery in Southern California and returned to professional baseball.
The 32-year-old former Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo star is dusting the rust off and playing for the Lancaster Barnstormers of the independent Atlantic League. While he’s hitting .308 with a home run in his 11 games through last weekend, it’s hard to believe Desme will be able to get back on a path to the major leagues.
Then again, if he’s looking for inspiration in his comeback efforts, he need look no further than Tim Tebow, the 31-year-old former quarterback who resurrected his baseball career. Tebow, playing for the Mets’ Double-A team in Binghamton, N.Y., is hitting .256 with five home runs and a .728 OPS in 66 games.
A stop in the majors isn’t out of the question for Tebow, but it’s fair to wonder if Desme’s shot ended when he joined St. Michael’s Abbey in Silverado in 2009. He left the game after hitting .288/.365/.588 as an A’s minor leaguer with 31 homers and 40 stolen bases before winning the Arizona Fall League MVP.
“I get asked that quite a bit, and sure it would have been nice to see where my career had gone if I didn’t enter the monastery,” Desme told CBS Sports. “But the amount of gifts and formation I received the seven years living at St. Michael’s are priceless. And those are things that are going to be with me for my entire life.”
Besides, Desme didn’t leave his pursuit of priesthood with only baseball in mind.
“The desire to get married increased more and more the longer I was at the monastery,” said Desme. “While that didn’t necessarily happen with the desire to become a priest. I came to the conclusion that God was calling me to married life.”
