Rookie Braves pitcher, Boyer, just a good old boy at heart

ATLANTA (BP) - David Parker met Blaine Boyer earlier this season while Boyer was pitching in Jackson, Miss., for the Atlanta Braves' Double-A affiliate. One day before a game, Boyer simply came over to Parker and his family and started talking to them. A friendship was born.

At the school where Parker's son, Kirby, attends, the boys in fourth, fifth and sixth grades have a Bible study on the last Thursday of the month - at 7 a.m. before school starts at 8. Parker invited Boyer to come and give his testimony.

Sure enough, that day at 7 a.m., Boyer showed up. And he brought three of his teammates with him.

"That made a big impact on the boys," Parker said. "Blaine's one of those kind of people that you're lucky to know. He's extremely open and giving, and he loves the Lord."

Stories like that aren't surprising to people who know the redheaded Boyer, now a rookie relief pitcher for the Atlanta Braves.

Many of his friends say Boyer will be completely unfazed by any amount of success he might achieve in the game.

"Blaine is a very simple, down home boy," said Tim Cash, the Baseball Chapel leader for the Braves. "There's nothing flashy about Blaine. He's got an old lab, a pickup truck, a place to hunt, some Third Day Christian music in his car, and he's good to go."

On a recent Saturday morning, Boyer helped lead a baseball clinic for boys at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church in Marietta. He shared his testimony and provided pitching instruction.

Prior to Atlanta's game with Pittsburgh that night, Boyer visited with the Parker family, who had traveled from Jackson to watch the Braves as part of Kirby's 11th birthday. Boyer left the family to duck into the clubhouse to find a gift.

He returned with a bat autographed by such players as Tim Hudson, Rafael Furcal, Marcus Giles and Jeff Francoeur.

"I've always felt Blaine's a good kid," Braves pitching coach Leo Mazzone said. "He has a big heart. He has his act together, that's for sure, and that's only going to help him in his future, which is very bright."

A native of Marietta, Boyer is a fan of country music, hunting and reading. C.S. Lewis is one of his favorite authors, and Mere Christianity is his favorite book. When the Braves are on the road, Boyer typically gets up about 9:30-10 a.m. each morning and has a daily quiet time in his room praying and reading Scripture.

"He's just a good dude to hang out with," Cash said. "I really don't see fame and money and notoriety defining who Blaine is. It'll be interesting to see where he goes in the future, but I believe Blaine feels that he's been defined in his heart because of his relationship with Christ."

"I don't feel like I've changed since day one," Boyer said. "Ever since the Lord's come into my heart, He's given me my personality. He's given me everything that I've got. So I feel like the fruits that I bear are going to be for the Lord at all times, not how much success I have in the major leagues, or how much success I don't have."