In 1999, Chad Curtis hit two home runs in game three of the World Series to help lead the Yankees to another World Championship. Chad Curtis is an intense competitor, and he is just as intense talking about his faith in Jesus Christ.

A: "I had the privilege of growing up in a Christina home. My parents were very regular church attenders in Michigan. I just grew up with the the Bible and hearing all the stories. I was eight years old when I was presented with the fact that I needed to accept Christ into my life to pay for the sins I've committed. I trusted in Him for my eternal salvation. I was a pretty high-strung eight year old kid. For me to sit there and listen to that and respond to it was definately the Holy Spirit working in my life.

Baseball is not easier because I'm a Christian. I can't really say that. Life is not necessarily easier because I'm a Christian. Christianity is not easy. It is easy to become a Christian, but it not easy to live as one. I don't want to paint that any other way. I can look to something bigger and say, "I'm a child of God." I also can say that when I do strike out or when I fail, I have to recognize that I have eyes on me. I have to be a representative of somebody who has been regenerated through the blood of Christ, but it doesn't make it any easier.

Q: Earlier in your career you struggled a bit with anger and frustration didn't you?

A: I have been a very driven person all my life. When I dedicated myself to something, I really go after it.

Baseball is such a frustrating sport. If you're successful as a hitter 30 percent of the time you're considered great. So there is always going to be 70 percent or more failure. It is hard for me to deal with that as a perfectionist - I'm driven. I had a pretty bad temper. I struggle with anger, and I let it go. That's how I feel, so I'm going to vent it. I recognize that its a very natural thing for me to do, but it is the natural side of me that I need to try to suppress. I need to grow and walk through the Holy Spirit.

A: It was an absolute thrill. When I was four years old playing catch with my Dad in the backyard - he was tossing me balls, and I was hitting home runs in the World Series. So I have been thinking about that for years.

I'm at a point where I can say it was fun, but it doesn't define who I am. I hope it doesn't change my character. I thank Him for that.

Q: As a professional athlete, the money, the fame, the temptations are all over the place. You are pretty close with 25 guys for 6-7 months during the season. How do you as a Christian be "salt and light" in this situation?

A: That is something that I constantly have to reevaluate and rethink. I would like to take the attitude of, if you really blend into the crowd then you have the opportunity to infiltrate it. Since you'll be in there you'll have an opportunity to influence. I don't really see that as the Biblical way.

I think that, I stand on the ground that God has given me His Son. I try to live - I strive for perfection. I strive for purity. Eventhough those things are beyond my grasp as long as I am confined to this earthly body, I still have to strive for them.

I think people come to the truth because they see a peace. I think the way we need to be "salt and light" more than anything is that we have to allow ourselves to be set apart. God set us apart when He reconciled us.

Sometimes people may say, "He's off his rocker...he doesn't drink, he doesn't run around with women, he doesn't cuss...he's weird."

Okay, sooner or later they will say, "What is this weirdness? Is the weirdness good, is he different in a good way, or is he different in a bad way?" When the Holy Spirit is involved in this process, then the Holy Spirit will tell them, "This is what I desire."

A relationship with God comes through an acceptance of His Son, and the acceptance of His Son comes about through a desire of purity. It doesn't always happen, but that's how I try to be "salt and light."

A: I'm a very disciplined person. I'm disciplined in baseball to reach a certain level. I haven't been really disciplined in my Christian life. I recognize that I was growing as a baseball player, because of my efforts and my discipline. I wasn't growing spiritually because of my lack of effort and discipline.

Just like we need to feed our physical bodies, we have to feed our spiritual bodies. If we went a week without food, our physical bodies would start to decay. If we go a week, or even a day without spiritual nourishment, our spiritual bodies start to decay.

I also think there is extreme value in refraining from some things. Our eyes are gates to our soul. If I just chose to allow all kinds of stuff into myself through my eyes, then its going to have an effect. I like to think of it as a filter. The more a filter is used the more it gets clogged up. So the more things I have to filter out of my life, the more I'm using my filter. That comes down to TV, or whatever, entertainment. I just don't watch it. It is not so much that I say its wrong, but I just don't care to use my filter on it.

You have a responsibility to your teammates, you still want to win - your competitive. I like to look at things from an eternal standpoint. A world championship, batting averages mean absolutely nothing in the scope of eternity. They are all trivia. But there are people here, and whether you are winning or losing, there are people's lives that can be impacted. From the first day of spring training to the last day that we break, I want to take a focus of trying to be positive in peoples lives.

The thing I need to be most disciplined in is following the God of my life. If that is baseball, then I have to recognize that I raised baseball in place of God. I think those are things that had I an opportunity to do over, I would change. If I change those things I may have not been a major league baseball player and that wouldn't bother me.

God used some of the things in my life - got me to a place where He wanted to use me - and now He is using me, so I really don't look back with regret. I look back and see it was His plan.