There is a baseball.
In many ways, it is just an ordinary ball. Cork core encased in rubber, wrapped in yarn, covered by white cowhide and held together by 100-plus red stitches — 108 stitches, to be exact.
The logo of Major League Baseball is clearly visible, the silhouette of an anonymous player bracing at the plate while a ball rushes toward him. On the opposite side, the easily recognizable script of the Rawlings logo stands out starkly against the white.
It is nothing you haven’t seen before, romantic though this piece of sports equipment is to many.
But this particular ball is different.
There’s a third logo etched on it, if you want to call it that. Gray block letters that clearly spell out “CALLED TO SERVE.” And on every side of the ball, there are signatures.
Those signatures spell out six names:
Each of those players have something in common, beyond stints — of various lengths — playing at the highest level of baseball.
Each of them elected to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints before making their MLB dreams a reality, making them six of the nine men in history to do so, the other three being Brian Banks, Gary Johnson and Scott Nielsen.
The man behind the ‘Called to Serve’ baseball
Outside of those who were high school baseball fanatics in and around the Las Vegas area during the late 2000s, Matthew Hutchings isn’t exactly a household name. Even the most diehard BYU baseball fan might have a hard time recalling him, a seldom-used relief pitcher who was recruited during the Vance Law era and played sparingly during the 2012 season.
Nevertheless, Hutchings and baseball fit together, hand in glove. Baseball has long been a defining part of Hutchings’ life.
His father Darryl Hutchings is a self-professed memorabilia connoisseur, going back to the early 1990s.
“I had a friend in the early ’90s who invited me to a couple of sporting events,” Darryl said. “Michael Jordan was big during that time and just to see an autograph, usually like a silver paint pen on a football, a basketball or a baseball, on the sweet spot. I don’t know, I just fell in love with it.”
Living in Las Vegas, Darryl would, for awhile at least, go out and see celebrities often, if not every night. And usually he’d walk away with an autograph.
“We would have certain people at the hotels and casinos that would tell us where to be at a certain time,” Darryl said. “And we could find somebody that would sign autographs for us. So it became a fun passion.”
A passion that he passed on to his son, Matthew.
“If you know Matthew and his father, they are big into baseball paraphernalia,” Scott Sperry, Mathew’s father-in-law and a lifelong baseball fan, said. “Their cards and their balls, they’re funny. I don’t think they invest in it so much for profit, like some do. They just purely love the game and love collecting items. They’re always intrigued by Matthew’s father and I think that’s where Matthew gets it from.”
Darryl played baseball in his youth — there was a brief chance he could play collegiately at BYU, but a mixup on the sports calendar ended that — and Matthew followed suit there, as well.
A standout at Palo Verde High in Clark County, Matthew was good enough — even after making the decision to serve a mission himself, a decision Darryl noted really took away most of Matthew’s potential options for college ball — to garner a scholarship offer from Saddleback College in Mission Viejo, California.
He was set on playing for the Bobcats, too, until Law presented him with an offer as a preferred walkon at BYU. Matthew leapt at the opportunity, and though his time with the Cougars wasn’t particularly noteworthy from a statistical standpoint, it left a lasting impact.
For one, Matthew was introduced to numerous BYU baseball alums, included among them Cole, who went on to become one of Matthew’s best friends (the pair are now colleagues at Tyler Insurance Group).
Beyond that, though, Matthew saw firsthand how difficult it is to be a great college baseball player (in high school, he had a .508 batting average, yet he was a relief pitcher at BYU), let alone a pro at the highest level of the sport.
“To know how hard it is even to get into (a Division I baseball game) one time, it is an incredible feat (to make it to the MLB),” Hutchings said.
It was that firsthand knowledge, and his friendship with Cole, that got the ball rolling on the unique custom baseball.
The ‘Called to Serve’ baseball project
It all started with the “followHim” podcast. Christensen, one of the aforementioned returned missionaries who made it to the MLB, made an appearance. Matthew listened to the podcast and a question quickly found purchase in his head.
“I wondered how many others” — returned missionaries who made it to the majors — “were in the same company,” he said.
He quickly learned it was nine total, ever. Which then got him thinking even more.
“Within one hour of talking to (Cole) about this project, he put me in a group chat with every single one of the aforementioned players. All players agreed to sign the balls and have been amazing to work with.”
— Matthew Hutchings
“I have memorabilia just throughout my entire office,” Matthew said. “Some of the greatest baseball players to have ever lived, you know; I’ve got autographs from Mickey Mantle, Ted Williams, you know, just about anybody. I love memorabilia. It is something I’ve done with my dad since I was a kid.”
And among the signed baseballs is one from Cole.
After looking at that one in particular, Matthew had a thought and called his friend.
“I said, ‘Hey, I mean this is pretty crazy that only a few of you did this. I wonder how hard it would be to get you guys in a room and sign a baseball and create a cool little memento for each of you, for what you’ve done type of thing,” Matthew recalled.
He needn’t have tried to sell Cole on it. The former BYU standout, who last played in the majors with the Los Angeles Angels in 2019, was on board.
“Within one hour of talking to (Cole) about this project, he put me in a group chat with every single one of the aforementioned players,” Matthew said. “All players agreed to sign the balls and have been amazing to work with.”
Hutchings is hoping to get Banks, Johnson and Nielsen’s signatures too, so he can get every returned missionary turned major leaguer involved in the project.
It wasn’t just signatures that Hutchings wanted, though. They might be the biggest draw on the balls, what grabs your attention first, but below every name on each baseball is a location, where each man served his mission. Followed by their years of service.
One baseball quickly turned into more, too. There are now 12 in all, one for Matthew, one for Darryl, one for Scott, plus one apiece for each of the men who signed them. Cole’s dad also got one.
For Matthew, the baseballs are more than just signed baseballs. Maybe even not the most important part of the project if he’s completely transparent.
“They (the balls) were just a byproduct to kind of get all of these guys, my heroes in that sense, together,” he said. “The story is the six people, the small crowd of people who accomplished the feat of serving a mission and making it to the MLB. And the ball is just kind of the physical piece of marrying my joy and love of baseball with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”
Missions before the majors
The marriage of faith and passion went beyond just signatures, locations and dates on the balls.
In addition to getting signed balls, Matthew wanted stories. The reasons — in their own words — as to why Christensen, Cole, Guthrie, Hannemann, Lindstrom and Sterner all decided to serve missions first and then pursue MLB careers, rather than forgo missions and try to take advantage of the short time available to be a professional baseball player.
It was those stories, Matthew hoped, that would inspire. That could help the “Called to Serve” balls function as missionary tools.
“I wanted one at my office to kind of be a way for me to share my testimony of the gospel,” he said. “To say, ‘Hey, I’ve got all this memorabilia signed by amazing and talented people, some of the best names of baseballs ever seen. But here’s the one that’s the most valuable to me. And this is why.’”
The individual stories of the aforementioned six players (and Banks) are below:
“I wrestled with it quite a bit. You start going through those things that every Mormon athlete goes through. You think, ‘There are other ways I could serve a mission.’ ‘I can do a lot of good.’ ‘I can be a good example to teammates and those watching.’ You kind of rationalize yourself into that type of thinking.
“For me it came down to I needed to serve a mission and I made that decision through what you are taught as a youth, through prayer, fasting and scripture study,” Banks said. “I also drew upon the feeling that I was doing what the Lord wanted me to do, and if it was meant to be, I would be blessed for it. I took peace in that.
“I was also motivated by them telling me I couldn’t do something. … I took it as a challenge and would always envision that time when I would go back and prove people wrong.”
“I was 15 years old, a little naive but also extremely faith filled. ... I was broken-hearted, my knee (torn ACL) was throbbing. I got down and prayed. My prayer was that if God helped heal my knee, I would do everything he asked of me. And that I would do everything I could to fulfill what I viewed were his commandments for me, to be as moral and good a person as I could possibly be.
“My dad had a premonition to come down, he came down and knocked on my door and sat next to me. I was in tears. And in the subsequent days, he made a promise to me that if I did everything God asked of me, that the Lord would ratify the promise that I made and would do for me what I needed.
“I got up from that and worked my tail off with rehab. That was how I was raised. Pray like everything depends on the Lord and work like everything depends on you. ... When I was a senior (in high school), (scouts) knew I was LDS and that there was the potential that I could serve a mission. And they’d come to my house and talk to me and would say ‘You are probably going to be taken with one of the top five picks, but if you go on a mission we can’t draft you. ...
“I took time to think about it and remembered when I was a sophomore and the promise I’d made. I wanted to serve a mission for our church. ... I would never change the decision that I made. My mission did more for me as an individual in propelling my life forward from that point than baseball ever could.”
Taylor Cole
“My mission was something I felt called to do. No one had ever served a mission in my family. My parents were converts. I knew it would establish a foundation for the rest of my life, even if it came at the expense of a baseball career.
“I knew I would never regret it. It was the hardest two years of my life. I had some major growing to do personally but I feel the Lord knew my heart and my desire to always try to do what is right.”
Jeremy Guthrie
“I chose to serve a full-time mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when I was 17 years old. Though the decision was made at 17, there are always challenges and trials of faith. At 18, I came to a crossroads where I would need to decide between pursuing a professional baseball career or sticking with my previous commitment to serving as a missionary. The decision was hard because both options felt like good ones. So, I took it to the Lord.
“I have found many answers to questions in scripture and the foundation for that has always been Alma Chapter 12, Verse 24. As a young boy, I internalized this scripture many times and thought about what it meant for me to prepare during this life to meet God once again. As a young boy, I wanted to do my best, to live in a way that would prepare me to serve God. As I got older, the decision to prepare and meet God took on greater meaning. More important decisions had to be made daily. As I strived to live by faith in Christ, repenting and striving to keep my covenants from baptism, I felt the power of the Holy Ghost strengthen and sanctify my heart.
“I began to recognize the promptings and feelings of the spirit in different settings such as firesides and personal scripture study. I also felt the power of the Holy Spirit through repentance and change as a young man. These gave me a wonderful experience and knowledge of Jesus Christ and his atonement.
“When I was 17 years old, I attended Especially For Youth in Provo, Utah. During that week, I was enveloped by the feelings of the Holy Spirit and felt connected to my Savior. I felt His presence in my life and I wanted to serve him. He sent many ‘messengers’ to me during that week in Utah; one of those was Brad Wilcox.
“I know the Lord had a message for me; Brother Wilcox and others delivered it and the Holy Spirit confirmed it. I would be an excellent missionary for the Lord one day. I felt a great resolve to continue to prepare myself to serve the Lord. I officially made the decision to serve as a full-time missionary one year later, choosing between a professional baseball contractor college and a mission. The spirit gave me courage; the Savior gave me my reason for serving. I’m forever grateful for that decision and all the course of my life since that moment.”
Jacob Hannemann
“Ultimately, I chose to serve a mission, and looking back, I wouldn’t change that decision. At the time, it was a hard choice — picking God over the game — but God knows best. It was an incredible learning experience that taught me to put him first in my life before anything else, including myself. That decision led me to a lot of truth and personal growth.
“As much as I love baseball, I’ve come to see that there’s so much more to life than the game. I loved meeting people, helping them, and being part of something bigger than myself. I’m still deeply grateful to God for that experience, and I strive to put him first every single day. I’m thankful for where he led me then, and where he continues to lead me now.”
Matt Lindstrom
“The reason I chose to serve a mission was because when my dad was elders president, I got a chance to see him work with the young men in my ward when I was still a boy. The transformation and the way they looked and acted when they returned and how mature and dialed in, they looked ready to tackle the next challenge in life and was something I knew I wanted.
“I decided when I was 13, I was going to go no matter what. I am happy I decided then because as that time got closer, I had some tough choices I had to make with going to college on baseball scholarships. ... I am glad I decided back then it was something (I wanted to do, and) I will never regret, and I know I was blessed for it.”
Justin Sterner
“I decided to serve a mission because I felt it was the best way for me to show my gratitude to the Lord for all the blessings He had blessed me with up to that point. I knew that if I dedicated those two years to serving others and teaching them how their lives can be blessed through the gospel, Heavenly Father would bless me. I knew that baseball was important to me and would do all that I could to keep playing once my mission was over.
“Maybe me still playing to this day and achieving my dream of reaching the major leagues was a byproduct of my mission and the learning and growth I had during those two years. I said it when I debuted last year but if you told me I would have never played a single inning of professional baseball because of my decision to serve the Lord I still would’ve gone and it still would be the best two years for my life.”
The impact of the ‘Called to Serve’ ball
It isn’t likely that Matthew will ever stop collecting sports memorabilia. It is a part of who he is. A labor of love in a lot of ways. Something he has already passed on to his family, much like Darryl did with him.
“Matthew is always talking about that,” Sperry, his father-in-law, said. “We’ve got nieces and nephews, and he gets them involved. He brings them playing cards. And it’s kind of become a fun thing for the cousins and the family. They start trading their cards, and that’s what Matthew brings to them for little gifts. It’s a way for him to connect with the family.”
When it comes to the “Called to Serve” balls, well, they are a connection device, as well.
One that connects him with his heroes, icons in the Latter-day Saint world when it comes to professional baseball; that connects him with friends and former teammates, and that connects him with his faith and his fandom all at once.
“When I sit face to face with a client, I am able to explain the sacrifices each of these men made to their careers to serve the Lord, Jesus Christ,“ Matthew said. ”I am humbled to be able to interact with each of these great examples.”
All that because of a baseball.
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported that only six returned missionaries went on to play in the MLB (Christensen, Cole, Guthrie, Hannemann, Lindstrom and Sterner). It should be nine (including Banks, Johnson and Nielsen).