- Team USA pitching hero has a familiar name to Latter-day Saints — David Bednar.
- A New York Yankee, Bednar has enjoyed highlight reel moments in the 2020 World Baseball Classic.
- Elder David A. Bednar also has an athletic background — and once threw the "opening pitch" at a Major League Baseball game.
A note is posted above the Wikipedia bio of Team USA pitching hero David Bednar:“Not to be confused with Latter-day Saint Apostle David A. Bednar.”
For members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, it’s perhaps the online encyclopedia’s most unnecessary annotation.
No one is mixing up the 31-year-old right-handed pro baseball player with the 73-year-old veteran member of the church’s Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. And while uncertain, it’s doubtful that the two have met.
But their identical names surely bring smiles to the faces of Latter-day Saint baseball fans whenever the burly Major Leaguer takes to the mound — and the play-by-play broadcaster announces: “Now pitching, David Bednar!”
Perhaps even a few passive Latter-day Saint viewers tuning in to Team USA’s dramatic run during the ongoing 2026 World Baseball Classic have adopted the younger Bednar as their new favorite player.
Meanwhile, anyone searching Google or their “X” account for baseball player “David Bednar” will surely pull up info on “Elder David A. Bednar” — and vice versa.
In the digital world, the two Bednars from different, albeit broad, communities will be forever linked.
A Yankee Bednar stars for Team USA
In recent days, pitcher David Bednar has secured his spot in American baseball lore.
The New York Yankees reliever has been a pivotal player in Team USA’s dramatic path to Tuesday’s 2026 World Baseball Classic title game. The Americans are slated to play Venezuela.
Bednar’s high-pressure heroics have writers calling him “The Houdini” of this year’s WBC — a quadrennial baseball tournament featuring the globe’s best players from baseball nations such as the U.S., the Dominican Republic, Japan, Puerto Rico, Cuba and Venezuela.
Nicknamed “El Oso” — that’s Spanish for “The Bear” — Bednar has appeared in four games during the WBC tournament. In back-to-back elimination games versus Canada and the Dominican Republic, Bednar pitched his way out of grave trouble.
With the U.S. clinging to a 2-1 lead over the heralded Dominicans, Bednar entered in the seventh inning and gave up a double to Austin Wells. Shortstop Geraldo Perdomo followed with a single, moving Wells to third base.
Perdomo then stole second, placing runners at second and third with only one out.
The next two Dominican batters were a pair of all-stars — Fernando Tatis Jr. and Ketel Marte.
No worries for the Pennsylvania native. Bednar struck out both men. Inning over. And when the game ended a short time later, American baseball fans had their ursine hero.
Given the high number of pitchers typically utilized during WBC games, it’s likely that Bednar will again return to the mound during Tuesday’s final.
Then it’s on to the New York Yankees for the 2026 Major League Baseball season, where Bednar’s expected to be a key player on the team’s pitching staff.
Athletic apostle: Elder David A. Bednar
Meanwhile, Elder David “Allan” Bednar is widely admired for entirely different reasons than his diamond athlete namesake.
But the two men have some things in common. For starters, of course, they share an uncommon last name.
“Bednar,” according to Ancestry, is an Americanized surname of Eastern European origin. The Czech word “Bedna” means “wooden case or chest.”
And like his baseball counterpart, Elder Bednar has an athletic background.
He played quarterback for San Leandro High School in Northern California — and even met his future wife, Susan Robinson, while playing flag football at a family home evening activity during their college years at Brigham Young University.
Elder Bednar’s also a skilled golfer.
And like Team USA’s David J. Bednar, Elder David A. Bednar has hurled a baseball from a Major League pitching mound.
On July 22, 2019, Elder Bednar donned a Houston Astros jersey and threw out the ceremonial first pitch for Family Night at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas, prior to the Astros games against the Oakland Athletics.
Elder Bednar threw a reported strike that was caught by former major league pitcher Jeremy Guthrie, who was serving as the Texas Houston South Mission president.
One hundred and fifty missionaries from the Texas Houston South Mission performed the national anthem prior to the game.
Apparently the Latter-day Saint leader enjoyed some of his own “David Bednar pitching magic” that evening.
The Astros beat the Athletics 11-1.