Carl Loewenstine – Former Lutheran

This was a special baseball-themed edition of The Journey Home, and it was a two-parter.  The first part featured Carl Loewenstine, a veteran scout for the Dodgers and Pirates, who actually helped build Los Angeles’ 1988 World Series champion team.  Carl grew up nominally Christian, and got more involved in his Lutheran Church after marrying his wife.  An experience while on the road as a scout during Holy Week dramatically shifted the course of his religious devotion, and led him down the path toward the Catholic Church.  Carl went on to work with Catholic Athletes for Christ to help make Catholic Mass available at more than two dozen MLB ballparks so that players and staff could have better access to the sacraments in the midst of their hectic weekend game schedules.

Part two of this episode is a throwback to our 2001 episode with the late Bowie Kuhn, former Commissioner of Major League Baseball.  Bowie had a strong Catholic upbringing, but fell away after joining the Navy during World War II.  He still believed, but he wasn’t practicing.  The witness of Fr. John McCloskey, as well as a series of events that helped him understand the kind of positive influence he could have in his leadership role in baseball, drew him back to the practice of his faith.  Kuhn passed away in 2007.

Lots of great anecdotes and baseball trivia in this baseball themed episode!