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By Bobby Ross Jr. | Religion Unplugged

D.J. Iverson’s love for the San Diego Padres runs deep. 

Soul deep.

Baseball is not a religion to Iverson, the associate pastor for New Vintage Church in Escondido, California. 

He worships Jesus Christ, not the late Tony Gwynn — even though Iverson, like most of the Friar Faithful, identifies the first-ballot Hall of Famer nicknamed “Mr. Padre” as his all-time favorite player.

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Related: Jesus at the ballpark: Why MLB teams host faith nights

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But make no mistake: Iverson, a 44-year-old father of two school-age boys, experiences the exhilarating ups and excruciating downs of the Padres on what feels like a spiritual level.

“There’s a lot of layers to that connection for me,” said the season ticket holder, who often peppers his sermons with baseball references. “The first big one is that I grew up going to games with my dad. A lot of the father-son time I remember with my dad involved baseball.”

Iverson is far from alone in his intensely personal connection to the game,  known for its long-held rituals and customs. The sport was first described as America’s national pastime in the 1950s.

Read the full column.

This column appears in the online magazine Religion Unplugged.

Photo provided by D.J. Iverson